


Unexplored

by stormoftara



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Embedded Video, Gen, Humor, Illustrations, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Includes More Characters with Minor Roles, Monster Funeral, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Pre-Undertale, Swearing, Timelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27090958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormoftara/pseuds/stormoftara
Summary: Bored with the world and having seen everything, Flowey comes up with a plan. By manipulating the timeline, Flowey convinces Sans to die so he can see something new.In the aftermath of his brother's death, Papyrus is left to piece together what happened. He finds more and more secrets that Sans left behind. Will he be able to find a way back to his brother?
Relationships: Papyrus & Undyne (Undertale)
Comments: 80
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

Sans placed his head down on the wood of his sentry station. Today the world felt very heavy. It was hard to describe, exactly. It was like someone had used blue magic, except it was increasing the gravity of everything instead of a single soul. That's why he could hardly keep his head up at all. It was all so exhausting.

There was the sound of snow crunching nearby. Sans didn't bother to look up. If it was Papyrus he'd be yelling by now. It was probably just a dog or some other monster. Nothing to be concerned about. The sound was odd though. Not like walking, yet something was moving.

"Howdy!"

A childlike voice got Sans to pick up his head. There was nothing to see but the snow covered trees in front of him. That is, until he looked down. There was something there. Not a monster. Something else.

Sans could read souls very well. An uncommon trait in the underground, and often not a useful one. Being able to tell the exact stats of anyone did him little good, nor being able to see their LOVE. It was rare to see someone with any execution points, besides the king. Asgore could be excused for that. He was trying to protect everyone and was bearing that burden. This, _thing,_ in front of Sans was different. 

It didn't have a soul.

It looked like a flower. Much like the golden flowers blooming in the palace. It was moving and had a face, so it wasn't just a flower. What it was, Sans had no clue, but seeing it made his heart seethe with hatred. If he wasn't so exhausted, he would strike it down where it stood.

"You seem tired Sans." The flower winked at him. "You should get more rest."

A feeling flickered through Sans' bones. This wasn't the first time he had seen this flower, even though it was. It was. It wasn't…? "that expression, you look like someone who has just reset about 78 times. geez, really? you did that?"

"How can you pretend like we've never met yet still know how many times I've reset?" The flower rocked back and forth, it's face warping into a twisted grin. "Is this fun for you?"

"nope. not fun at all." Sans shrugged. "i'm not even sure why i used the word reset. i just know the timeline has been funny. that's your fault, eh?"

"You could say that." The flower morphed into a more genuine smile. "You aren't fighting back this time."

Sans sighed. Even summoning a single bone felt like too much of an effort. "don't feel like it, honestly. what's your name?"

"You don't even know my name?" The flower reeled up and hissed. "You are unbelievable, you know that? I'm tired of introducing myself. It's Flowey, got it? Cram it into your thick skull!"

"was that a skeleton joke?" Sans chuckled.

"Noooooo!" Flowey rocked back and forth again, writhing in rage. "Will you listen to me? I need you to do something."

"nope."

"What? You didn't even hear it yet!" Flowey smacked his face into the snow. "You are impossible!"

"you reset all those times to get me to do it, right? well if i didn't agree all those times, i'm not gonna agree this time." Those resets though. That must be what was making Sans so lethargic. He was used to that feeling of deja vu, of things constantly looping. Vague memories with no place in time residing in his mind. This felt different. This was too much. 78 resets in a short time was wearing on his soul heavily.

"You will agree. I can keep doing this forever." Flowey grinned. "Do you want that, you stupid trashbag? Do you want to be stuck in this one moment of time for all eternity? I can do it. You could say I'm very determined."

Determined. That must be it. That's why this flower had those powers. Not that it mattered much. It also didn't matter if Sans killed him right here and now. The resets would continue. Might as well hear him out. "fine. tell me what you want."

"Finally!" Flowey threw up his leaves like hands. "We are getting somewhere. I want you to die."

Sans laughed loudly. "that's not gonna happen pal. don't even try it. you won't be able to kill me."

"I know! I've tried so many times. I've killed every other monster in the Underground. Except you. I'm so bored of everything. I want something new to happen. So you will die."

"yeah, but you already said it. you can't kill me. so i don't know what you are expecting. even if you reset a million times you'll never kill me." Sans was mostly bluffing. He was certain that if Flowey kept this up, Sans wouldn't be able to keep up. His main ability was dodging and he was this worn out on less than a hundred resets. Flowey had too much determination to give up any time soon.

"Yes!" Flowey smiled. "I can't kill you. But you can kill you. Kill yourself. I want to see what happens."

Sans laughed, pounding a fist on the sentry station. "full of jokes, aren't ya? listen here, i'm not gonna do that. it's stupid."

"So you enjoy all these resets? I can keep doing this forever. You will break eventually." Flowey's face broke into a wide grin. "Forever and ever, just me and you in this brief moment of time. Unless you give up now, you smiley idiot."

Sans had no doubts that this would go on and on. It sounded exhausting. He didn't want to give in to the demands of the one who was ruining the timelines, but what option did he have. "you'll reset once you see, right? i mean it would be stupid to leave me dead."

"Of course! I can’t let this game end." Flowey stuck out his tongue and winked. "I'll bring you back."

"and you won't hurt my brother either?" Sans continued as he stood, slumped over as he went to stand in front of his sentry station. Papyrus was the one he was most worried about. If Sans wasn't around to protect him. Well. He guessed it didn't matter. This timeline was doomed no matter what he did. That flower would reset if Sans declined anyway. Sans was so tired. It was easier to get this over with. Flowey would get bored and reset when he saw nothing exciting happened when Sans died.

"I hardly ever hurt your brother. Papyrus is the best! He always listens to me." Flowey grinned, but it quickly turned dark. "So go ahead and die already."

"okay, okay." Sans considered slamming a bone attack into Flowey as a last minute betrayal. Hell, maybe he had tried that already. It wouldn't matter though. Nothing really seemed to matter. It was all so…

"this world really is pointless." Sans grumbled to himself as he summoned a bone. Even if he could do only one hit point of damage, he only had the one to begin with. "nothing i do matters. i'm tired of it all."

With that he shot his own bone against his chest. Since he had the intent, the damage was full. It was done. He hoped that stupid flower got what he wanted out of this. He hoped that once Flowey learned that nothing ever really changes, he would give up resetting timelines and let Sans live normally for a while.

Of course, he hardly had time to think at all, since the moment the bone hit him, a voice called out in a panic. "SANS?"

"pap?" With blurry vision, Sans saw his brother running across the forest, his red boots throwing snow scattering into the air. 

"Sans!" Papyrus wrapped his brother in a hug. "What are you doing? Did you say this is all pointless? What are you talking about? Why did you injure yourself?"

His brother had way too good hearing. It was pointless now, Sans felt his body already turning to dust, perhaps sped up by the force of the hug being thrust upon him. "s-sorry pap. be good while i'm gone."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Papyrus cried out. "I'll get a doctor. You'll be fine!"

"it's too late for that. it doesn't matter anyway. there is no escape from this shitty twisted world." Sans wasn't sure if he was making sense, but he didn't care. This timeline would end soon. Then he would be back with his brother. He'd figure out some way to destroy that flower too. Then nothing like this would ever happen again.

"Don't say things like that." Tears started down Papyrus' face, his face torn up in pain. "Please Sans, you have to stay strong. Then we can figure all this out, together. Like we always do. Okay? Don't leave me!"

"sorry." This really sucked. Sans didn't want to hurt Papyrus. Not ever. At least this wouldn't be forever, right? He closed his eyes, the world fading into darkness. It was game over for him.

The last thing he heard was a pitiful cry of, "SANS!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno. I had an idea. So I wrote it. Plus I wanted to write something in a different fandom. I feel stuck in my other fandoms so I'm returning to my roots? How often will I update? Dunno. As often as I can I guess. At least I'm writing something.


	2. Chapter 2

It had taken so damn long! The wait had been worth it, so Flowey couldn't be too disappointed.

Flowey had discovered one day that after multiple saves and loads in quick succession, Sans slowed down. It took four to five to make a noticeable difference, but he became more tired and apathetic with each load. This discovery helped him formulate the plan to finally kill the skeleton, one way or another. Make him too exhausted to care anymore! Plan! ™!

At first the skeleton killed Flowey, making him load, but that really just helped his cause. Later as he got more worn out, he didn't attack right away. Eventually he finally listened. It took forever, but Flowey had accomplished his goal. Nothing had pleased him as much as the moment Sans finally drove that bone into his chest. It was such a sweet victory. Even more exciting, this was a timeline where Sans was dead, something that had never happened before! It happened in such an interesting way! Flowey couldn't wait to see what would happen next, but he didn't want to interfere too much, so he hid himself as he looked on.

Papyrus knelt next to the pile of dust that had once been his brother, still holding tightly onto his brother's jacket. His face was one of anguish like he had never known before. He could only mumble out to the dust, "I'll get Alphys. She'll fix you! I won't let you…"

Papyrus shook his head. He wasn't entirely stupid. He knew it was too late to do anything. With such low HP, Sans couldn't survive a single hit. He was too fragile. That's why they had been so careful their whole lives. Papyrus made sure he was strong enough to take any hits. Sans made sure he could dodge any bullet.

Of course, he wouldn't dodge an attack he set against himself. Papyrus felt like his soul was cracking into pieces. His brother had taken his own life. Sans was gone forever because of his own hand. Why did this happen? Papyrus couldn't understand. Everything had been so ordinary at breakfast. Sans had made puns while they ate some leftovers from Papyrus' cooking lesson. Nothing felt off, nothing to indicate that this would happen.

Yet it had. His brother was nothing more than dust. 

And Papyrus felt entirely numb.

Papyrus gathered up all the dust he could within Sans' jacket. He carefully carried it back to Snowdin. The whole time his mind felt so blank. This wasn't real. It had to be a nightmare. Papyrus would wake up soon and laugh about this. There was no possible way his brother was actually gone.

Papyrus avoided speaking to anyone in the town, his eyes blankly focused as he trudged ahead. He arrived back home and went inside, placing the jacket on the table. Then he sat on the couch, the TV turned on to only static. He stayed like that for a long time, his brain unable to process what happened. Everything felt so distant from him, and worst of all, he felt empty.

It was getting late. The passage of time felt unreal, but something brought him back to it. Something knocking at his door?

Papyrus stood, walking over to see who was there. At first he saw no one until he looked down. There, nestled in the snow was a familiar yellow flower.

"Howdy! You look glum today, pal. Everything okay?" Flowey asked with a smile.

"Oh, Flowey. I'm terribly sorry, but I can't talk right now…"

Just as Papyrus was closing the door, Flowey threw a vine to stop it from shutting. "You know, if there is something wrong, you should talk about it!"

Papyrus bent down, picking up Flowey's vine gently. "You may be right, but something serious happened, and I'm not sure how to tell you, Flowey. So excuse my rudeness, but I need to go."

Papyrus placed the vine outside and closed the door. Flowey puffed out his cheeks. This was boring! He didn't want to watch Papyrus sit around being sad. He wanted something to happen. This was the same as any of the times Flowey managed to kill Papyrus. Sans would lie in bed and refuse to get up. Flowey wanted something else to happen. Anything! Maybe this was pointless. He should load his save-

"Hello?"

Listening in closer, Flowey heard Papyrus' voice. Had he actually taken Flowey's advice? He glanced in the window and saw Papyrus on the phone, his voice small and pitiful. "Undyne, please, can you come over?"

"AARGH? What was that?" Undyne's boisterous voice echoed throughout the house.

"Undyne, I need someone right now. Please, come over. I can’t be alone." Papyrus was slightly louder.

Well at least Papyrus was talking to someone! This was progress! Maybe something interesting would happen after all.

"I'm comin, Papyrus!" Undyne screamed over the phone. Actually, Flowey thought he could hear her voice not through the phone. Sure enough, there was Undyne, dressed in only her black tank top and blue jeans running at full tilt from Waterfall. Flowey ducked under the snow.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA." Undyne screamed the whole way through town until she arrived at the skeleton's house. She knocked with such force she nearly splintered the door. "Papyrus! I'm here!"

"Undyne? That was fast." Papyrus opened the door, rubbing at his cheek bone with the other hand. "Come in."

Undyne bounded inside. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying."

"Ah, yes. You see, Sans passed away." Papyrus blurted out, unsure of how to broach the topic. His brain stopped working properly hours ago.

"What? Oh my God, Papyrus, that's awful." Undyne wrapped Papyrus in a tight hug, so tight he could hear his bones creaking and threatening to snap. "What happened? No wait, have you eaten anything? Let me make you something to eat, then you can tell me."

Undyne rushed off to the kitchen without a response. Papyrus sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. He was glad Undyne took charge so easily. He needed that right now, he couldn't handle this on his own. 

Undyne wasn't cooking with quite as much intensity as she typically did. There weren't any stray fires or vegetables splashed about. So even she could cool down when she needed to. Papyrus almost wished that she was acting like normal. Then he could pretend everything was normal. That Sans was just upstairs, waiting for the perfect moment to pop out with a joke or musical interlude.

Undyne brought Papyrus over a plate piled high with spaghetti. He wasn't certain he could eat even a single bite, but he tried. It tasted fine, it really did, but it made his stomach turn, so he placed it down on his lap.

"What happened, Papyrus?" Undyne asked, slurping down her own noodles. 

"Sans. Well." Papyrus twirled some of the pasta around his fork, trying to think of what to say. Especially when he didn't want to think about it. "I was out in the forest to ensure Sans was working, you know what a lazy bones he is. I was nearly at his sentry station when I heard him speaking. He said that the world is pointless, that nothing he did mattered. That he was tired. I don’t think he noticed that I was there."

Despite not being hungry, Papyrus took a bite of pasta as a way to stall. This was proving more difficult to talk about than he imagined. He had to tell someone. This was too much for him to handle alone. "It was then, before I could say or do anything that he summoned a bone and attacked himself with it. He…"

Papyrus trailed off. It was so awful, remembering. Surely Sans hadn't meant for him to see. He had done it at a place where his body was easily discoverable, but he probably never meant for Papyrus to see. What must've been going on through his mind to end things like that? Papyrus gulped down a lump in his throat. "It was too late. I couldn’t do anything for him. Before he turned to dust he merely said that there is no escape from this world and that he was sorry."

"That must've been awful. Come here big guy!" Undyne pulled Papyrus into another hug. He appreciated it. It was comforting. It allowed him to really cry for the first time since the initial shock. 

It felt good to cry, to release his emotions. Undyne held him, rubbing his bony back. Papyrus cried and wailed, the truth really sinking in. This wasn't some nightmare. Sans was really gone and he wasn't coming back. Every time Papyrus thought he was done crying, a new thought came to mind. Never again would he see Sans' smiling face across from him at breakfast. Never again would he get mad at his stupid jokes. Never again would Sans read him a bedtime story. So many never agains.

He did wear himself out eventually. Undyne got him a blanket and pillow. "Try and get some rest, we can talk more in the morning."

"Are you staying?" Papyrus asked, lying down on the couch. He would go upstairs but he didn't have the energy for that. 

"Sure am! I'll stay as long as you need me. So get some rest."

Papyrus closed his eyes and exhausted from his outpouring of emotions, he fell asleep. 

* * *

The world was dark. Darker than anything Papyrus had ever seen before, which was saying something since he lived underground and never even saw the sun. This sort of darkness felt different. 

A color appeared out of the corner of his eye, causing Papyrus to swivel in that direction. "Sans?"

"hey bro." Sans waved a hand towards him.

There was movement in the opposite direction. As Papyrus looked, there was Sans again. And again. Multiple Sans all standing around him, smiling and waving.

"How?" Papyrus questioned, more to himself than anything.

One of the Sans spoke. Or maybe all of them in such perfect unison, it was impossible to tell. "don't be too sad about me dying. we'll be back together soon."

"What? What does that mean?" Papyrus looked at the ocean of Sans around him and felt like he might already know.

"in any case, don't trust that flower. welp, i'll be seeing ya."

All at once the many instances of Sans vanished into thin air, leaving Papyrus completely alone, left in the dark.

* * *

At some point Papyrus heard noises coming from the kitchen, causing him to wake. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up. Why was he sleeping on the couch again? And… "Sans? Are you up already?" Papyrus called out to the kitchen.

Once Undyne stepped out far enough for Papyrus to see her, he remembered everything. "Oh. Right, good morning Undyne!"

"Good morning Pap! Uh, just so you know," Undyne jabbed her thumb in the direction of the kitchen table. "I moved, um, Sans to that box over there until we can have the funeral. That way we can use the table to eat, I’m making breakfast!"

"Oh, thank you! What's for breakfast?" Papyrus asked, moving towards the dining room table. There was a small box that contained his brother in his entirety. It felt like a lie, but Papyrus had seen him turn to dust himself. It just felt like so little dust when Sans had been, well rather large in terms of personality! This was all that was left of him now. 

"I'm making omelets. I've had enough pasta already. It's almost done, have a seat!" Undyne went back into the kitchen hovering around the stove as she cooked. Papyrus sat down in his regular seat, watching Undyne. She never taught him how to make omelets. Maybe in a future lesson? Would there be future lessons? Would Papyrus' life carry on after this? It felt like it was over.

He was jolted from his thoughts when Undyne placed a plate in front of him, clanking it against the table since Undyne was incapable of doing anything delicately. "There, eat up! You need your energy!"

"Thank you Undyne! Even though I am very great, I do not believe I could've done this without you." Papyrus took a small bite. The eggs were a bit overcooked, but they still tasted good. Which is all that really matters!

"We are friends! I'm glad you called me. I'm glad I can be here for you now." Undyne gave a wide toothy grin.

"We are friends?" Papyrus questioned. 

"Duh! Of course we are. Do you think I hang out cooking with just anyone?" Undyne waved a fork at Papyrus. "Nope, I only do that with you."

"Wowie, I had a friend all along." Papyrus smiled down at his breakfast. How did he not realize that earlier? He always thought of Undyne as a boss, way higher ranking than him. But they were friends. That was at least a small bright point in an otherwise awful day.

They both ate in relative quiet. All that silence brought a thought to the surface of Papyrus' mind. "Do you think it's my fault? That Sans died?"

"What? No way!" Undyne nearly spit out her food at his words. "How could it be your fault?"

"I knew he was depressed. I mean he quit the job he loved at the lab, he slept all the time, he never took care of himself. I knew that but I didn’t help him. I should've done more." Papyrus sighed, looking down at his eggs. 

"You didn't know that it was this bad." Undyne pointed her fork back at him. "Like, depressed people don't always wanna talk about their problems. It can make them feel worse, I think. So it's not your fault he lost hope…"

Undyne trailed off, her mouth still hanging open as she thought deeply. Suddenly she slammed both her hands down on the table, sending bits of eggs flying. "HOPE."

"Eh?" Papyrus glanced at her, shocked.

"It's not your fault, but I think it is someone's fault!" She jumped to her feet, shaking the house with the force. "And I'm going to do something about it!"


	3. Chapter 3

It was so annoying.

Flowey wanted to feel something. Emotions. Empathy. Anything. That's why he wanted Sans dead. Seeing permanently happy Papyrus mourning should make Flowey sad, right? It was like when he… lost his own sibling. However, that long distant pain and sorrow felt like it had happened to someone else.

So it was frustrating that Sans' death felt no different from anyone else. Without a soul, Flowey really was incapable of feeling. At least things were getting more interesting again, he thought he was going to die of boredom.

"It's his fault! Aaaargghhh!" Undyne screamed, shaking the house from the inside out.

"Huh? Who?" Papyrus asked.

"We are going to see him! We can't let this keep happening!" Undyne screamed, picking up Papyrus and throwing him over her shoulder. "Let's go!"

Flowey buried himself in the snow as Undyne plowed out the front door. Papyrus shouted, "Frankly, I'm most confused but you seem very enthusiastic about this."

"Hell yeah!" Undyne took off running at her super sonic speed.

Flower popped back up, tilting his head in confusion. Who did Undyne mean? It was Flowey's fault, but she couldn't possibly know that. So where were they going? He better follow and find out.

After a dizzying trip through Waterfall and Hotlands, most of which was spent with Papyrus begging to be let down and Undyne cackling about how she couldn't slow to let him off her shoulder, they arrived at the Core. Papyrus was thrilled when Undyne came to a stop and let him down. It was only to ride an elevator though.

"Where exactly are we going, Undyne?" Papyrus asked, looking down at his clothes. He hadn't changed since… Sans' death, he looked quite a fright! Even more of a fright than a skeleton should look.

"To see Asgore." Undyne said, crossing her arms against her chest, her eye intense.

"What? The king?" Papyrus sputtered. "I'm not dressed to meet the king!"

"Do you really think Asgore cares what you are wearing?" Undyne sighed. "Anyway, what we have to say is way more important than what we are wearing!"

"I don't even know what we are saying." The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Undyne pulled Papyrus off, walking steadily towards the King's house. "I don't want to explain it twice!"

Papyrus wished that Undyne had a little more patience. Or perhaps that she had left him at home. Papyrus had left Sans all alone… well his dust at least. It felt a bit like betraying his brother's memory to not be at home mourning. Although he wasn't sure what he could do besides endlessly blame himself for Sans' death. Thinking over and over how he could've prevented it. If only Papyrus had been faster… or smarter…

If Papyrus had become so sad, Sans would've known about it and helped him immediately. Papyrus had failed his brother so badly.

A loud knocking noise brought Papyrus back to reality. Undyne was rapping at the door to Asgore's home with her knuckles. "ASGORE!!"

"Undyne?" The king's voice was muffled. "I'm coming?"

Despite his apparent confusion, after about twenty-three seconds (Papyrus was counting the seconds rather than letting his mind go dark places) Asgore opened the door. "Good morning Undyne. We didn't have a meeting planned today, did we?"

"Nope!" Undyne shoved her way inside, motioning for Papyrus to follow. "We have some matters to discuss." Undyne paused, her one visible eye flush with irritation. "Very important."

"Ah." Asgore rubbed his large paws together. "Well, why don't you two have a seat at the table. I'm sure you are both parched, I'll make some tea."

Papyrus sat down at the table, watching Asgore head into the kitchen. "Wowie! It's the king!"

His excitement faded quickly. Was he allowed to be excited about anything? It felt like he shouldn't be. Besides, Undyne apparently blamed the king for Sans' death? Somehow?

"Um, Undyne?" Papyrus put a hand next to his mouth to muffle his whispers. "King Asgore wasn't even in Snowdin. I don’t see how it's his fault."

"Just because he wasn't there, doesn't mean it's not his fault." Undyne huffed out.

Seeing he wasn't going to get more of an explanation, Papyrus went quiet. He really wished he could be home, he wasn't up to doing whatever this was. Normally he wanted to be out and about! But he was too sad. Perhaps this was what Sans felt like all the time? If he did, that explained why it was so hard to get him out of bed. It was a miserable feeling.

Since he _was_ out, very much against his will, Papyrus looked around the room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace, giving the room a cozy feel. More interesting were the flowers around the room. Golden flowers. They looked a lot like Flowey, actually. Papyrus stared at the nearest one, placed on the table he was sitting at. It looked suspiciously like Flowey.

Asgore headed to the table, carrying a platter with three cups of tea on it. He placed one in front of Papyrus, "I'm not sure how you take your tea, Papyrus, was it? Do you want sugar?"

The king knew his name? Papyrus felt so honored! "No, Your Highness! I prefer my tea unsweet!"

"Ah, quite the opposite of your brother." Asgore moved towards putting a cup in front of Undyne before sitting down at the far end of the table.

Papyrus placed both hands on his face in shock. "You know my brother?"

"Of course I do. He's the Judge… er, he is one of the former Royal Scientists. We often met to discuss matters, back before he quit." Asgore took a sip of his tea.

Papyrus looked down at his own tea. It was a strange color, a pale yellow. It reminded him of the flowers scattered about the room. He could see his own reflection in it, swimming back and forth. The most stunning thing about his reflection was the very dark circles under his eyes. Was that from all the crying he did? Papyrus often saw similar dark circles under Sans eyes. He played it off as not getting enough sleep despite him always sleeping too much! Did Sans… cry often?

"Actually, we are here to discuss Sans." Undyne took a long drink of her tea, which looked like it was still nearly boiling. Well, she did like hot food, Papyrus supposed.

Right. The king didn't know that Sans was gone. No one really did. Not yet. Grillby and the others at the restaurant probably were wondering where he was. It was heartbreaking to think of telling them all. Sans had so many friends.

"Did something happen to Sans?" Asgore asked, clearly noticing his absence.

"He died, Asgore." Undyne said in a gruff voice.

"Oh dear." Asgore reached across the table and placed his large paws on Papyrus's bony hand. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"It wasn't some random death. Sans took his own life." Undyne continued, her smile looking rather terrifying as she leaned in closer to Asgore. "He killed himself because he gave up hope about ever escaping the Underground."

"You really think that's why?" Papyrus broke up a bit of the tension by interrupting.

"Yeah, Pap! Think about the last thing he said to you. That he couldn't escape, or something like that right?" Undyne turned towards Papyrus, looking more calm. "He said he was tired and that he couldn't take it anymore. He lost hope about ever escaping!"

"True, he did say those things, albeit with a bit more colorful language." Still Papyrus had a hard time believing it. That didn't feel like something Sans would do. But then again, Papyrus always thought that Sans wouldn't go and leave him alone, yet he had done that. So did Papyrus really know what his brother was thinking at all?

"That's why we came here! Cause Sans wasn't the only one to give up hope like that!" Undyne stood up, towering over the two still sitting at the table. "Alphys was in Waterfall, in the dump. I caught her about to jump into the abyss! I was able to stop her, but can't you see Asgore? The monsters are losing hope! I guarantee this won't be the end of it. There will be more suicides unless you do something! You are the king! It’s your job to give us hope, but you haven't been and look where we are now! This is your fault, Asgore!" Undyne finished her statement by pointing in an accusatory manner at Asgore.

Asgore had been quiet during the whole discussion, holding his cup of tea between his hands. He took a few deep breaths in and out. "I had no idea that Dr. Alphys attempted to take her own life. And I'm deeply saddened to hear that Sans was successful in his attempt. He was truly a wonderful monster, you know that, Papyrus?"

"He was the best brother!" Papyrus shouted, sniffling back tears. Even the king saw how great his brother was! This would be a great honor! Except it was rather hollow. Finding all this out after Sans' death was… well? A rather complex set of emotions that Papyrus didn't have the time to shuffle through at the moment.

"Undyne is correct. I'm the King. I'm supposed to give monsters hope. Yet lately, we've had precious little to hope for. It's been such a long time since a human fell down here." Asgore sighed to himself. "I'm not sure how to even inspire hope with such grim prospects."

"You have to do something! I don't want to have to plan another funeral for a friend! Especially over something so preventable! You better do something Asgore!" Undyne shouted, her voice nearly too loud for even Papyrus.

"Yes. I will." Asgore nodded. "There is… something I can do. But, well. That might take a few days to prepare. So in the meantime, Papyrus, you aren't an official member of the Royal Guard, correct?"

"No, but I've been training under Undyne." Papyrus looked back down at his tea. He wasn't sure he would ever become a member. He hadn't been able to save Sans, after all.

"Well I'm making you a member, but with different tasks than the typical member." Asgore gave Undyne a knowing look. "You will be on the lookout for any monsters that are losing hope. That way we can get them the proper help they need. Do you think you can do that?"

"Me? But! I couldn’t save my brother…" Papyrus continued to look down. He really wanted to be in the guard, but he was doubting himself.

"Pap, you are one of the kindest monsters in the whole Underground. I think you are perfect for the job." Undyne punched him on the shoulder.

Papyrus looked up, seeing the faces of Undyne and his king. He couldn't refuse. He had to do this. He wouldn't let another monster die like Sans. No one deserved to be in that amount of pain. If Papyrus could help, then he would. "I'll do it."

Undyne pumped her arms. "Yeah! Welcome to the Guard, Pap! But what are you planning on doing, Asgore?"

"I need you to trust me on this. I'm going to bring back hope. I need a couple days to prepare, but I'd like to give a speech. I don’t want it to interfere with Sans' funeral, however. Have you decided on a date for that?" Asgore asked.

"Probably in a couple days. We haven't had time to discuss it yet." Undyne glanced over at Papyrus. "But just a speech? Will that be enough?"

Asgore swirled his tea around in his cup. "I need you to trust me on this. I promise you I can bring back hope."

"Alright." Undyne slammed back the rest of her tea. "I'll call you later with the dets on the funeral. Then we'll plan your royal speech. Sound good?"

"Very." Asgore nodded politely.

"We should get going, right Pap? We got a lot of stuff to do." Undyne stood back up, she seemed fond of changing positions often.

"Wait a moment." Asgore stood up as well. Papyrus stood up too so he didn't look strange. "I don't mean to burden you further, but Papyrus, I need you to do something for me. As part of your new duties."

"Anything, Your Highness!" Papyrus saluted him.

"Can you check on Dr. Alphys for me? She hasn't been answering her phone, which is usual for her, but after what you told me, Undyne, I am concerned for her safety. And deliver a message for me as well. Tell her to discontinue all DT experiments and to call me immediately." Asgore saluted Papyrus back.

This should be the happiest day of his life! The king was saluting him! A Royal Guardsman. Papyrus always dreamed of getting in the Royal Guard. Typically he would dream of having a grand party with Sans to celebrate. Except that wouldn't be happening. It felt so hollow. Like most things did. But he had to stay strong! Monsters were depending on him!

Papyrus and Undyne left, this time Papyrus walked all on his own.

Flowey stretched his leaves. He had to stay still for so long to listen to the whole conversation. Good thing the king had so many flowers that looked just like him everywhere. And things really were getting interesting! Killing Sans was the best! Things were moving so quickly. He couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

But before Flowey went to check on Alphys and Papyrus, he noticed that Asgore went into his room to write in his journal. He did that every morning, Flowey had watched Asgore through so many resets, he knew his habits by heart. In any case his journal might hold a valuable clue as to what the king was really up to. He had a sneaking suspicion that Asgore was hiding something. Flowey had to keep himself from laughing. This was all so very very interesting!


	4. Chapter 4

Once Asgore left his room and went down into the basement, Flowey finally left the vase he had been disguising himself in. He glared back at the other golden flowers, sitting there with not a single spark of life. Asgore sure was sentimental, keeping these things around. Chara would probably laugh if they saw, but then again, maybe not. They did seem attached to the golden flowers, for whatever reason. Pretty ironic, considering what Flowey had become.

Flowey went up to the bedroom door, trying to open it with two long vines, but it wouldn't budge. Grunting with frustration, he tried again. Did Asgore actually lock the door? Even more interesting! Asgore never locked the door! _Never!_ He must be hiding something good! A locked door couldn't keep Flowey out. Not when he could go under the floor.

Very easily he popped back up in Asgore's room. Honestly, Flowey hated being in here. It reminded him of a different life. The one before his innocence and very soul had been crushed into dust. It was almost impossible to think that he had made that stupid macaroni art still hanging on the wall. Or that he had been proud of it! Asriel was a real idiot! Flowey wanted to tear it off the wall and shred it as finely as dust. Kill it! 

But he was wasting time. He came in here to read the journal, not get angry at his stupid sappy past. Flowey pulled himself up to the table and read over the words, the ink still drying on the page.

* * *

Today was not a good day. Not even a mildly nice day. It is in fact one of the worst days I've experienced in a long time. It is difficult to put into words the exact measure of my sorrow, but I must.

Today I learned that the Judge, Sans the skeleton of Snowdin, took his own life. I feel deep regret in my soul. Undyne, the head of the Royal Guard and Papyrus, Sans' younger brother, informed me of this tragedy. While Undyne believes he died merely because he lost hope due to being trapped in the Underground, I think there is more to the story. After all, Sans judged those children. Those children he sent to their deaths. The children I had to kill so I could take their souls. Only I should have to bear this burden, yet I forced part of it upon a third party. I never could take complete responsibility for anything. I allowed Sans to suffer and because of that I have his dust on my hands.

Losing Sans is a tragedy to the entire Underground. He was brilliant, talented, and funny. I considered him a friend. I am deeply saddened by his loss, I cannot put it into words properly.

That is not all. Dr. Alphys, the Royal Scientist, also made an attempt on her life. No doubt from the immoral and unethical experiments I asked of her. No wonder Sans quit being a Royal Scientist. The things I asked were too much for any soul. I caused so much suffering due to my own cowardice. But I know what I must do now. 

This is the only way I can make it up to Papyrus for stealing his brother away. My mind keeps going back to my own children, Asriel and Chara. After Chara died, which I now know to have been a suicide, Asriel wasn't far behind. I'm fearful that similar will happen to Papyrus. Sans talked about him very often and spoke highly of him. I can see how close they are, and I will not let Papyrus lose hope.

Until I can pay Papyrus back, I made him a member of the Royal Guard. In a non-combat role. Undyne told me of his kindness and refusal to fight. This role should suit him and give him purpose for now. I can't have Papyrus losing hope as well. I will not lose another monster, hope will be returned soon enough. I am angry with myself for not doing this sooner. My only excuse is my cowardice.

Tomorrow I am going to see her. Whatever happens will not change my mind, however.

I must do this.

-Asgore Dreemurr 

* * *

Flowey nearly laughed at the journal. They seriously made Papyrus a member of the Royal Guard just so he wouldn't off himself. That was too funny! Of course, there were other interesting things written, most of which he knew already. He had reset so many times. He learned practically everything. He wasn't sure what Sans had done as a Royal Scientist, since he quit before Flowey was created. Maybe Flowey should ask Alphys about that. He was pretty good at getting answers out of her.

The other interesting thing! Asgore did have a plan. Flowey was brimming with excitement to learn what it was. He wished he could fast forward time! That would be a way more convenient skill! But nope. He had to slowly wade forward through time like everyone else. 

Who was this "she" Asgore talked about at the end? Why was everyone playing pronoun games and not saying any names? Annoying! But surprises were fun! So Flowey decided to go catch up with Papyrus and see what he was up to for now. He burrowed under the floor and made a beeline for Hotlands. 

* * *

Papyrus looked over at Undyne with worry. She was sweating rather a lot. This was her second time through Hotlands today. She might like hot food but her body couldn't handle the temperature. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Undyne wiped her brow of sweat. "It's gonna be a busy day though. I gotta ask Dogressa and Dogamy if they'll cover yours and Sans' sentry posts. And I gotta let everyone know about the funeral. Did you decide what you'll sprinkle the dust on?"

"Ah, well." Papyrus thought about it a lot during the walk. Sans didn't seem to have a favorite thing. He didn't show much attachment to anything, actually. Besides sleeping and greasy food! Which weren't exactly things he could sprinkle Sans' dust on. If anything, Papyrus would say he was Sans favorite thing, but sprinkling dust on himself was the most morbid thing he could think of so he put it out of his mind. "I think his jacket should suffice."

Undyne groaned as they walked past a steam vent, not even bothering to wipe the sweat from her forehead anymore. "He was always wearing that thing. That'll work. We can have the funeral at Town Center. I bet a lot of people will come. I might need the Royal Guard to help with crowd control."

"He did have a lot of friends." Papyrus tried to not frown, yet he still felt a bit down. Everyone loved Sans so much. Did he not see how much he was loved? Did he really give up his life just because he was trapped underground? Papyrus couldn't wrap his mind around it. There had to be something more.

"Are you gonna be okay talking to Alphys? I can do it for you." Undyne offered. 

Papyrus shook his head. "It's fine. I'm a part of the Royal Guard and I intend to do my duty! I will not let any other monsters lose hope!"

"If you are sure." Undyne stopped as they reached the crossroad between the Royal Lab and Waterfall. "So you got that phone number for the therapist right? Just in case you need it while talking to Alphys?"

"I saved it to my phone, no problem Undyne!" Papyrus held up his seldom used phone. 

"Good. I'm sure Alphys is fine. She's just been real skittish lately. Take care of her for me and tell her I said hi!" Undyne started walking off towards the much cooler Waterfall. "When you're done, just go on home. I'll join you there as soon as I can. I think we both need some rest, it's been an emotionally draining day."

"Yes! See you later Undyne!" Papyrus waved her off, trying to not show how tired he was. Never in his life had Papyrus taken a nap, but he really wanted one right about now, and it wasn't even noon yet! At least he could rest soon. For now he had to take care of his very important duty!

Papyrus knocked at the door to the lab. He heard a whimper inside. Was Alphys okay? Had she been injured? He knocked again.

"Oh no, oh no…" Alphys sounded frantic.

"Alphys? It's me! The Great Papyrus!" Papyrus knocked again, feeling very worried. Would he have to break the door down?

"P-Papyrus!" Behind the door there were scratching noises on the tiles. After a few seconds, Alphys opened the door. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to check on you! As a member of the Royal Guard!" Papyrus said, standing up as straight as he could. Which was very straight, mind you! "May I come in?"

"Of course! C-come in. Sorry about the mess." Alphys backed up a bit, letting Papyrus in. "I don't really have anything to offer you…"

"That's okay. I just had tea with the King." Papyrus saw a rather large monitor just inside the entrance. It was showing several places throughout the Underground. "What's this?"

"Oh! I'm monitoring the Underground. You never know what might happen. Or when a human might come. Or something. Actually, I wanted to ask you about a certain something." 

Alphys awkwardly stood next to Papyrus, twiddling her claws. "E-every day I see Sans go to this door to the ruins." She tapped on the screen, showing the door that was near Sans' sentry station. "He didn't go today. Is he alright?"

What was Sans doing, going over to the ruins? He slacked off too much. Er, he used to slack off too much. Maybe Papyrus should cut him some _slack?_ Ugh, why was he making puns in his own mind now? "Can we sit down?"

"S-sure?" Alphys pointed to a table covered in notes on scattered pieces of paper and old takeout containers. "We can sit there."

Papyrus sat down with a heavy sigh. Alphys looked nervous as she sat across from him. "Did something bad happen?"

"Yes. I'm sorry to inform you that Sans has passed away." 

"Oh no!" Alphys squeaked, putting her hands up to her face and nearly knocking her glasses off in the process. "I'm s-sorry Papyrus! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm not sure if I'm really processing it at the moment." Papyrus looked down at his hands. It felt like a long time ago, but it had only been a single day since he held Sans in his arms as he turned to dust. "That's part of the reason I came to visit you."

"W-what do you mean?" 

"Sans killed himself. Undyne and the King grew concerned about you when they heard that." Papyrus explained.

"Oh my God! Sans committed suicide? That doesn't sound like him! What happened?" Alphys nearly tipped over backwards in her chair before she grabbed the table in front of her to steady herself.

"Undyne thinks he couldn't take being trapped underground anymore." Papyrus looked back down at the table. There seemed to be notes about building a robot. Right, Alphys had built Mettaton. Could she make a Sans-bot? That was a pretty silly thought. Nothing could replace the real Sans.

"Y-you don't think that?" Alphys asked.

"I'm not certain. Sans didn't give a clear reason. I think he wanted to slip away without anyone knowing. Maybe even make his death look like an accident. He didn't leave a note. I only know because I found him… doing it." Papyrus gulped, trying to keep tears from forming in his eye sockets. "I'm sorry if this is too personal, but Undyne said she caught you in a similar situation. I want to understand why Sans did what he did. Why did you try? Can you help me understand? I really want to understand."

"Oh-oh." Alphys took her glasses off and started to clean them on her lab coat. "Papyrus, I'm not sure I can help you understand since I don't know what Sans was going through. I can tell you how I felt. I f-felt very scared. And alone. I wa-was backed into a corner. I felt I had no other choice. T-that death was the only answer."

"No choice…" Papyrus frowned. He felt like he was frowning a lot, but he didn't have much reason to smile. Maybe he could find one soon. "Ah, are you doing fine now? King Asgore was worried since you haven't been answering your phone."

"I'm okay. I try and take each day one at a time." Alphys nodded. "I'm not going t-to do anything stupid. No-not that I think Sans was stupid! Ah, um," Alphys started to mumble to herself. 

"It's fine, I understand what you mean." Papyrus tried a small smile, as insincere as it might be. He wanted to cheer Alphys up. That was his job! "I have the phone number for a therapist if you need it!"

"I'll be okay, Papyrus. Thank you for checking up on me." Alphys ran a hand over the top of her head. "I appreciate the effort. I've been spending too much time alone lately. It's nice to talk to someone again."

"I'm glad I could be of service! Undyne sends her greetings as well. She couldn't stop by, she is very busy today, unfortunately." 

"Undyne said hi?" Alphys covered her face, which had gone a deep shade of red, with her hands. "Oh, um, well, can you tell her I said hi back? And if she wants we can watch anime together again. Ahaha…"

"Certainly!" Why was Alphys so red? Was it too hot? But the lab had air conditioning! "King Asgore also had a message for you!"

"What? Oh, he probably wants the results of that experiment. Oh no!" Alphys bit down on her knuckle. "I can't…"

"Please, do not worry! It's not about that, I don’t think? He said to discontinue the, um, DT experiments. And to call him as soon as possible." Papyrus thought he heard a noise behind him. He turned his head but couldn't see anything. Must've been his imagination.

"Quit the DT experiments?" Alphys pulled both hands down the side of her face. "But! But! Oh I have to call him! I'm sorry Papyrus, I need to take care of this. Can you tell Undyne to text me later?"

"Of course." Papyrus had some more questions he wanted to ask Alphys, but she was in such a panic he decided against it. "I'll be going then."

"T-thank you for stopping by!" Alphys waved goodbye with one hand as she searched her pockets for her phone with the opposite hand. 

Once Papyrus was out the door, Alphys finally found her phone. Her mind was in a total panic. Did Asgore find out about the Amalgamates? Oh no! What was she going to say? And apparently both Undyne and Asgore knew she had been suicidal? Alphys never said that, not explicitly at least, was it that obvious? And Sans was dead? He was the only other person who knew about the Amalgamates! How could she fix them on her own? Especially if the king was calling off DT experiments? Everything was going wrong!

As she was dialing the number, a vine whipped out of nowhere, wrapping around the phone and lifting it high into the air. Alphys gasped with surprise. Across the lab from her was a very familiar yellow flower, smiling at her in a freaky way.

"Howdy Dr. Alphys! I have some questions for you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time! We learn some secrets about Sans and Alphys! 
> 
> And I'll try to get that update out before Halloween. During November I run an event called Writevember, so I'll be busy. I'm having fun writing this so who knows if I can stay away though.
> 
> Check out my Twitter @stormoftara for more info on Writevember!


	5. Chapter 5

Alphys was interesting. Not only for the fact that she created Flowey, but also because she made those creations, those mash-ups of monsters, currently residing in the True Lab. The ones she kept hidden out of shame for her own actions. 

She was also a liar! She lied to everyone. To Asgore about building a robot, to the families of the Amalgamates, to even Undyne! She kept saying anime was real human history. Was she just trying to look cool? It wasn't working.

In one of his resets, Flowey pushed Alphys into the Abyss before Undyne could save her. That was pretty boring. It was way more fun when Undyne and Alphys knew each other. So Flowey mostly let her live. Sometimes he even spent loads of time with her, learning science stuff. She even let him in on a little secret. 

All the experiments with determination? It was to make an artificial soul. One capable of breaking the barrier. Asgore got her to work on that after seeing what she did with Mettaton. Of course Mettaton was really a ghost and she hadn't created a soul. That's why she started sticking determination in everything, since she didn't want to let Asgore down. She was doomed to failure and never created anything of worth. Except Flowey of course! And that was an accident!

Flowey had asked Alphys something over many timelines and never got an answer out of her. Where did the determination come from? There seemed to be a machine for extracting it, but Flowey never saw it in use. It might be interesting to see if Alphys really knew or not. He would find out today. He had come up with a plan! It all started with stealing her phone.

In this current timeline Flowey hadn't interacted with her at all. So seeing the results of one of her experiments come to life was probably pretty shocking to her. It was funny, seeing the recognition slowly filter into Alphys' eyes.

"W-who are you?" Alphys stuttered, her eyes flashing from her phone to Flowey. She clearly knew who exactly he was. What an idiot.

"I'm your new pal! You can call me Flowey. I think you know exactly who I am, though." Flowey shook her phone around in the air. Maybe she would jump up and try and get it? That would be hilarious!

"Huh? Flowey? You are that flower… oh my goodness!" Alphys put her hands to her face in shock. She looked really pale too, like someone sucked all the color out of her scales.

"Bingo! See, you can use your one brain cell and think every once and awhile." Flowey had enough teasing Alphys with the phone and pulled it in closer and placed it on the ground next to him.

For a second Alphys almost looked angry. Oh? Did she have enough self respect to not take insults to her face? Flowey had no idea. Except her next words proved how stupid she was. "What are you d-doing in here?"

"Listen here, Miss Science Freak. I already told you. I have questions, you have answers. This isn't up for debate. You will answer my questions, or I'll call the King and let him know all your dark secrets."

"What? S-secrets? I don't have any s-secrets!"

Flowey held up a leaf like he was counting, "Oh I dunno, Mettaton is a ghost and not a robot, you made those freaky abominations in the True Lab, you have a crush on Undyne-"

"Stop it!" Alphys shrieked. "Don't tell Asgore! I'm, what, how? How do you know all that?"

"That doesn't matter! I told you I have questions and I want answers!" Flowey didn't bother to hide his annoyance, his face distorting into pure fury. "Tell me what Sans did while he worked here or I'm calling the King."

"Why do you want to know about Sans?" Alphys asked, her eyes narrowing in on Flowey.

He ignored her, picking up the phone and looking for Asgore's phone number. It wasn't hard to find since Alphys had no friends! "I wonder what the punishment is for lying to the king?"

"O-oh wait! I'll tell you. He was making a device? It was for finding alternate universes? Or maybe timelines? He never really told me so I'm not sure on the specifics. Or why he would want something like that. I-i j-just know that it broke when one of the Amalgamates jumped on it. The um, Memoryhead. Sans quit working here a-after that." Alphys rung her hands together. "Can I have my phone back?"

"Not yet! I'm not done. I have another question." So that's how Sans knew about timelines and resets. But he was working on it before Flowey was created. Why? Ugh! If only Flowey could ask him, but he'd have to wait until he loaded his save. "I know about the determination you've been using. I mean clearly, you made me with it. Where did you even get the determination, you dino-bore?"

"Um! I d-dunno! We had it here when I started working here? Sans never said anything besides that it came from the DT extractor."

That's what he could gather from simple observation! Did Alphys never question Sans about it? Wasn't she curious? But Flowey guessed she wouldn't lie when her secrets were about to be revealed. "Fine. I guess you don't know, moron." He tossed the phone back towards Alphys.

"H-hey! I have a q-question too." Alphys caught the phone, barely. "Why are you asking about Sans? You know he died, right?"

"I'm very much aware." Flowey couldn't help but to smirk. That was a good memory, watching Sans off himself and being so nihilistic about it too! Sans really had given up hope! It was so funny!

"I-i worked with Sans f-for a long time! And! I don't think he would kill himself! He, he really loves his brother. He wouldn't leave him behind." Alphys was shaking, but her stutter was becoming less pronounced, like she had conviction in her words. "And you are trying to blackmail me about Sans, so what I'm thinking is you did something similar to Sans! You must've blackmailed him!"

"Interesting theory, but very wrong." Flowey shook his head. "What motive would I have for killing Sans? Or anyone for that matter? I'm just a poor innocent little flower! That you created! Hey, in that case, if I did kill Sans, wouldn't it be your fault for creating me?"

"I have a bad feeling about you! Like I've met you before. But I can't remember." Alphys put a hand to her forehead. "I just know you are bad. So what did you do to Sans?"

It was annoying that she had figured it out. Normally he would load his last save, but his last save was from before Sans died and he didn't want to go back yet. So Flowey lifted two leaves in an approximation of a shrug. "How could I have killed him? Papyrus saw him kill himself!" 

"That's not what I'm saying!" Alphys stomped a foot on the ground. "You could've blackmailed him into it, or something else!"

"You are a scientist, Alphys. Where is the proof here? Your words mean nothing, you know that? All you do is lie!" Flowey zoomed over and got right in Alphys' face, giving the most evil grin he could. "Maybe you should stop watching so much anime. It's giving you strange ideas."

"Um. Um. Maybe." Alphys backed up a step, biting her lip. "But I mean, you did blackmail me…"

Flowey backed off and slammed his face repeatedly into the ground, with a muffled scream of, "She is so infuriating!!" 

"Um?" Alphys looked highly concerned, bending down next to Flowey. "A-are you okay?"

"Perfect! Peachy! I'm leaving now!" Flowey started to pop back under the ground when Alphys reached out and grabbed his stem. "What the hell are you doing?"

"S-sorry! I was just curious if you had a b-body made of magic or a physical form? Um! I guess this isn't the time for that." Alphys' face went red from embarrassment. "Hey, but if I created you, does that mean I'm your mother? Are you my son?"

Flowey gave her a look of utter disbelief. "I just threatened you and now you are asking if I'm your child? Are you the stupidest monster in the whole Underground?

"Uh? Maybe?" Alphys gave him a confused look. 

"Goodbye idiot." Flowey quickly ducked under the tiles before Alphys could question him further. At least he got a small piece of new information out of Alphys, so it hadn't been completely pointless. In any case, it was time to head back to Snowdin.

* * *

Papyrus arrived back home to his quiet house. It felt so empty without Sans around. It was almost unnerving. Papyrus decided he had to do something to keep his mind off Sans for the moment. Or else he would break down into tears. 

First he took a quick shower and put on some clean clothes. It wasn't one of his nicer outfits, just an orange zip-up hoodie that said "Cool Bones" on the front (Papyrus had added the "Bones" part himself!) and a pair of black shorts, but it was a comfortable outfit. After feeling more refreshed and clean, he went to clean up breakfast, which was still sitting where they left it when they ran off to see Asgore. 

Washing the dishes didn't take long. Papyrus normally was at work during the day with sentry duty, so he felt lost about what to do. He could watch TV, Mettaton's shows were always fun, but he wasn't in the mood to laugh.

As he was heading out of the kitchen and into the living room, he noticed that sock. The one Sans refused to pick up! It had become a joke to him! Every time Papyrus left him a note, Sans simply replied with "okay."

Now Sans would never pick it up. Papyrus didn't want to either. Maybe it would sit there forever. Papyrus bent down to reread the notes, a faint smile on his face. That is until he got to the end. There was a new note! It must've been left this morning. It only had "okay" written on it, like all the rest. 

Papyrus picked it up, hoping there was more. Maybe a message to him about why Sans had killed himself. Anything. Even a goodbye. But it only said, "okay."

Tears formed in his eye sockets again. It hurt so much. This would be the last "okay" ever. Why was it "okay"? Nothing was okay! Papyrus desperately wanted to understand why Sans had died! It felt like the worst puzzle in the world, because it was a puzzle without a solution. 

Wiping his eyes on the sleeves of his hoodie, Papyrus stood up. Well, if it was a puzzle, maybe there was an answer! He couldn't give up without looking. After all, he was the great Papyrus, master of puzzles and riddles and all manner of bafflements! 

Papyrus stood up, heading up the stairs. Typically he didn't go in Sans' room, but this was not a typical occasion. He had to find any clues he could. The door creaked open. It was black inside, dark, darker, yet darker. Hm, why did that phrase come to mind? Papyrus turned on the light.

The room illuminated, showing the same mess that had always been there. A literal tornado of trash and the unmade bed with dirty sheets. It was all as it always was. Lazy bones never cleaned up after himself. As much as he didn't want to, Papyrus started going through the scattered papers on the floor, trying to find something. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

There was a paper filled with failed knock knock jokes. Another with the worst puns Papyrus had ever seen. A note with some math on it? Looked science-y. There were more notes of a similar caliber. No suicide note, nothing that even indicated his emotional state.

This might be hopeless. There was someplace Papyrus hadn't looked yet. The dresser! He pulled open the drawer to see many socks. Of course. He put these socks away! He was about to close it when something caught his eye. 

A silver key. Papyrus picked it up. Something about this key felt… familiar. Like he had seen it before. But he hadn't. It was deja vu? That's what Sans called it. Where did this key go? To that shed out back? Maybe? It was confusing to look at it.

Papyrus peeked back into the drawer. There was a piece of paper he also hadn't noticed. It was folded in half. It said, "don't forget."

Nerves ran through Papyrus' body. Something felt wrong. But he continued forward anyway, slowly unfolding the paper. Reading the inside.

"Current timeline: TL-S-3779."

Timeline? What did that mean? Was this note a strange prank? Sans did like his pranks, but his pranks usually made more sense than this.

It made Papyrus highly worried. 

He didn't like this.

"PAPYRUS! WHERE ARE YOU?"

The loud voice of Undyne startled Papyrus out of his nonexistent skin! "I'm in Sans' room!"

Undyne grunted as she vaulted over the railing and up to the second floor. "Whatcha up to?"

Papyrus shoved the paper into his pocket. He didn't want anyone to see, but he wasn't sure why. "I thought maybe Sans left a note."

"Did he?" Undyne asked, looking around at the state of the room.

Papyrus shook his head. "Not as far as I can tell. It’s a bit… messy."

"I'll say." Undyne let out a low whistle. "Oh yeah! I brought you over your armor, since you are an official member of the Royal Guard now. Come downstairs, I wanna see if it fits!"

"Wowie! I'm so excited!" Papyrus and Undyne went downstairs together. Outside, a certain flower looked in. That key...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this I thought it would be a short fanfic. Like only five chapters long.
> 
> Why am I like this? Can't I just write a short story? No? 
> 
> okay


	6. Chapter 6

"It looks really good on you, Papyrus!"

Papyrus looked down at himself, at the shiny armor with a deltarune emblem. It clicked against itself whenever he moved, but it made him feel protected. And proud. Now that he was wearing the armor, it felt real. This was his new reality. The great Papyrus, now an official member of the Royal Guard. The great Papyrus, now sans a brother…

If only anything could help him forget his heartache for a few moments. Even something this amazing couldn't lift his spirits. 

"What's wrong Paps?" Undyne asked. "Does it not fit right or something? We might have to adjust the chest piece, you got a really long torso, and-"

"It's not that. It looks fabulous! It's just hard to be happy about anything right now, my apologies." Papyrus gripped his arm, the metal beneath his hand feeling so cold as he looked at the ground.

"No need to apologize! You have been through a lot. Sorry for dragging ya to see the King and all." Undyne clapped Papyrus on the shoulder. "But hey, it kinda worked out for you, right?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Papyrus gave her a small smile. "I'd really like to get some rest now though."

"Of course!" Undyne nodded as Papyrus started to take off his armor. "We'll have to wait until after the funeral and the King's speech to have your Royal Guard swearing in ceremony, but that's just for show anyway. That'll help lift your morale."

"Mmm." Papyrus finished by taking off the thick iron boots. As he stood up he felt his pocket. The paper and silver key were in there still. He really should check that out, once he could process things and wasn't so exhausted. "Oh I nearly forgot, Alphys said hi! And something about watching anime? You should text her."

"Oh!" Undyne looked away, her face slightly red. Why was everyone getting red faces today? "She wants to watch anime again! I'll text her soon…"

"Hmm. Maybe you should text her sooner rather than later? She seemed a bit panicked after I told her about what King Asgore wanted." Papyrus probably should've mentioned that sooner. He nearly forgot after finding that strange note.

"Oh, okay?" Undyne flipped out her phone and started texting at a speed that could only be matched by her running. Her smile sank into a frown when the reply came. "Oh geez. I think I better go over there. Will you be okay on your own for a bit?"

"Yes, well I did want a nap." Papyrus wrung his hands together, feeling a bit timid about his next question. "Can you do something for me before you go?"

"Anything Pap!" Undyne said with a grin.

"You see, Sans used to always read me a bedtime story before I went to sleep. I have a hard time falling asleep without one. Do you think you can read me one?" 

"Of course!" Undyne put a hand on his back, leading him up the stairs. "Just pick out a book, I'll be the best reader!!"

"Thank you Undyne! Oh and one more thing?" Papyrus said as he opened the door to his room. "When you see Alphys can you ask her about timelines?"

"Timelines? Like time in a line?" Undyne squinted her eyes in confusion as she watched Papyrus pick out a book.

"I think it means something like different universes sprouting from the choices we make? Sans liked science fiction novels and I'm trying to figure out something. Alphys seems like she might know about those types of things." Papyrus handed Undyne a book. His favorite one. 

"Yeah, I'll ask her." Undyne sat down beside his bed as Papyrus got settled. "Alright you ready for some fluffy bunny action?"

Flowey sighed from outside. Ugh. How sentimental and utterly disgusting. Wasn't Papyrus an adult? What adult needs a bedtime story? Stupid idiots.

That key though. The silver one. Flowey had never seen it before. There was a door behind the skeleton's house that Flowey had never been able to get into. It must have some magic around it, since he couldn't burrow into it. It made him so very curious. He'd have to figure out a way to steal the key. Or follow Papyrus in, if he figured out what the key was for. Flowey was certain he'd find some answers there. 

That being said, was Papyrus asking about timelines? Why did he know about those suddenly? Was it something written on that paper? Flowey had to find out! This was so exciting. So many new and wonderful things were happening thanks to the death of one pesky skeleton. Having questions that Flowey couldn't answer was annoying but oh so much fun. 

Eventually Papyrus fell asleep and Undyne left, heading to the lab. Flowey would follow her, but he didn't want to see those two awkwardly flirting with each other. Or not flirting? What were they even doing? It was too frustrating to watch, either way. 

Flowey has other stuff to do. He was sure that the monsters in Snowdin must be doing something interesting. He hadn't even checked out Grillby's lately! He would rather do that. So many new things were happening! Something fun was bound to happen!

* * *

That black inky void again. Papyrus looked around, feeling chilled to the bone. Was this a dream? It felt different than his other dreams. 

"heya." 

Papyrus looked next to him to see Sans standing there. In his excitement he instantly went in for a hug, but found his arms touching nothing. "Hmm, Sans?"

"over here." Sans waved from a few feet away. "uh, maybe don't touch me. i'm not sure what'll happen if you do."

"Sans? Is it really you?" Papyrus felt his emotions flooding him! So it was only natural that some would leak from his eyes. It's not like he was crying or anything!

"yea. it's me bro. take a seat. i wanna talk to you 'bout something." Sans sat down on what passed for ground in the void. 

Papyrus sat down across from him. He really got a good look at his brother. He looked normal, that is, except for a hole that pierced through his jacket and shirt. Papyrus frowned upon seeing that particular detail. "Sans. I know this is probably just an amazing dream, dreamt up by my great imagination, but I truly miss you brother. I miss you so much I feel like my soul is about to break."

Sans sighed. His smile looked pained. "i miss you too... i think i made a mistake. i shouldn't have done it. i should've been stronger." His shoulders sagged. "i really messed up."

"Sans." Papyrus felt like his soul was very heavy in his chest. It was painful. Did his brother regret his actions? "Please, tell me why you did it? I don't understand. I need to understand."

Sans' face went dark. " _I wish I could tell you._ "

"You can tell me, brother! I won't be upset with you. I just really don't understand." Papyrus smiled at him in a reassuring way. Even if this was a dream, some answers were better than nothing. 

"i can't tell you. not because i don't trust you. it's just that." Sans sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "i've been keeping so many secrets from you. again, not a trust thing, i just think it would hurt you to know. i don't want to hurt you, pap."

"Hurt me more than having a dead brother?" Papyrus stated.

"ouch. i guess that’s true. this really was a mistake. I shouldn't have listened to him. no matter what he said or did i should've stayed alive. but i was so tired." Sans breathed out, his chest heaving, his eyes completely devoid of light. "what was wrong with me? why did i agree? why did i think that stupid weed would keep his promise and reset? what if he never brings me back?"

Papyrus didn't understand any of that, really, but it hurt to see his brother in such pain. He desperately wanted to hold him, despite the warning, but he held himself back. "Sans, I'm not sure I understand, but did someone force you to kill yourself?"

"don't worry about it." Sans rubbed at his eyes. "i'm sorry. i lost my composure. listen, i don't think we have much time left here. you have to make me a promise."

"Yes?" Papyrus wanted to ask more, but decided to listen for the moment. 

"if you see that damn weed, that ' _Flowey'_ , i need you to kill him immediately. promise me that." Sans looked up at his brother. "promise me."

"I can't kill Flowey! He's my friend!" Papyrus was taken aback. Sure, Flowey could be… a bit much. And he wasn't the best at being nice. But that didn't mean he deserved to die!

"papyrus. it'll be okay. but you have to. please." Sans pleaded, but he stopped talking as a coughing fit came on. He coughed into both his hands quite violently. Papyrus was shocked to see red staining his bones. Blood? 

"Brother!" Papyrus sprang up, racing over towards Sans, but the floor felt like it was falling out from beneath him, his brother was vanishing…

Papyrus was falling?

* * *

Papyrus quickly sat up in bed. He wanted a racecar bed so he could cruise while he snoozed, not fall! Clearly his bed was failing him. In any case, after such an alarming dream, he felt parched, so he decided to get up and get something to drink.

As he was heading to the kitchen, the dream ran through his mind. It had been a dream, right? Papyrus knew dreams couldn't be real, and yet. It felt real. 

Sans had been keeping secrets. So many secrets. Papyrus was only beginning to uncover them all. He felt that key in his pocket, wondering what it was for again.

And what had Sans been talking about? It seemed like someone convinced him to die? Could that be true? It felt like something more plausible than his brother up and killing himself out of nowhere. Papyrus wanted to believe that…

And yet...

As he filled a cup with water, he realized the futility of it all. It didn't really matter why. Or how. Sans was gone either way. Papyrus slide down and sat on the floor, holding the cup of water still. Sans wasn't coming back. His brother was dead.

Papyrus sobbed into his arm. He wished Undyne was here. Or anyone really. But he couldn't keep depending on others. For the rest of his life, it would be just Papyrus. He placed the glass down, curling up on himself as he cried.

"Sans, please come back. Please."

* * *

Flowey was bored! Everyone in Snowdin spent the day being sad over Sans' death. Even Grillby looked less firey than normal. Did fire elementals lose heat when they got sad? Wait, why did Flowey care? 

Papyrus was also boring. Last he checked on Papyrus he was crying again. Rolling around on the floor. Begging for his brother to come back. Pfft, like that was going to happen. In fact, Flowey should save again, then Sans couldn't come back at all, not unless Flowey did a true reset. Wouldn't that be funny? It's not like anything was stopping him.

There was a glowing light near the shops at the front of Snowdin. Flowey reached out for it, that warmth flowing within him. He was filled with **DETERMINATION**. And yet… 

Flowey just didn't feel like saving right now. Maybe later. It's not like he felt bad about Papyrus crying and begging. It's not like it reminded him of Chara.

...

Chara could never come back. Sans could.

Flowey had a heavy feeling. Just heavy. He didn't like it.

…

Forget about all that.

Everyone was sleeping at the moment so Flowey was super bored. Undyne never came back from visiting Alphys so she must've fallen asleep over there. Tomorrow would be more interesting. Asgore was going… somewhere. In fact, Flowey should head over there now! He burrowed under the ground and headed towards New Home.

Once morning came, Flowey watched Asgore putter around the house, humming to himself. Annoying man. He finally decided to leave, taping a note to the door as he left. Flowey popped up to look at it.

"Howdy! I'm going to visit Snowdin today, if anyone needs me. The door is unlocked, so feel free to help yourself to some tea. -King Asgore"

Ugh. What hypocrisy. Asgore acted so timid and nice, for a child murderer. He should own up to his wicked ways. It would make him more interesting, at least. Anyway, what business did Asgore have in Snowdin? Well, only one way to find out. 

Flowey followed him, but Asgore didn't stop in Snowdin. He kept going into the forest. He didn't really stop to talk to anyone, but he did pet each of the dogs as he went by. He went past the last sentry station, currently being ruled by dog marriage, and crossed the bridge.

No way! Was he going to see mom? Er, Toriel. Flowey had to see this disaster in the making. 

Asgore walked up to the door to the ruins. He stood very still, looking upon it with unease on his face. He breathed in and out deeply before finally knocking on the door.

"Who is there?" Toriel's voice sounded almost relieved for some reason. Oh right! Wasn't she waiting for Sans? Ha!

"Tori?" Asgore grinned as he leaned in closer to the door. 

"It is you." The disgust in her voice was clear.

"Listen, I need to tell you something. It is of utmost importance. Please listen." Asgore leaned his forehead against the door.

"Did you listen to those children before you murdered them?" Toriel's voice was very sharp. Flowey had to admit, that was a good one! Haha! Make Asgore feel the weight of his sins!

"Tori…"

"Do not 'Tori' me, Dreemurr! I will not listen. Good day." From behind the door, Flowey could hear Toriel standing and then leaving. 

Asgore sat down against the door, holding his head in his hands. What did he think would happen? But it had still been funny so it was worth it. Flowey was curious what Asgore had wanted to say, though.

Hmm, maybe he could convince Toriel to talk to him! Besides, she didn't even know about the stupid skeleton's death yet. Time to deliver some good news! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have other things. So many things. I should be working on. Yet my brain screams at me and all I can think about is this fic 
> 
> I'm working on a video for the ending. I know no one cares and no one is reading this, but I'm having fun. It's been a long time since I wrote a fanfic just for me 
> 
> Anyway. Here are some images for no reason. No reason at all. *whistles and walks away*
> 
>   
> 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a small video in this chapter. Only text, no audio. You should def watch it. I just couldn't do what I wanted to do without moving text so I threw a video together real quick.
> 
> Also small spoilers for Steins;Gate? Maybe? It's nothing really important.

Undyne sat a cup of tea down in front of Alphys. Even if Alphys' favorite drink was soda, Undyne didn't think that was a good idea at the moment. Alphys reached out with shaking claws and took a small sip. She seemed really rattled, but she wasn't talking about what happened. Her experiments must be really important to her if Asgore asking her to stop upset her this much.

Undyne sat down across from Alphys, hoping she would be alright. Everything really was falling apart lately. Asgore better give one hell of a speech, because if he didn't, Undyne didn't know what might happen.

Alphys ran a claw along the rim of her mug. "Undyne? Um. So." She looked down at her drink, her face clouded with emotions. "So you knew I was trying to kill myself back then?"

"Yeah. I knew. I was waiting for you to talk to me about it, honestly. I didn't want to push you too hard about it. I didn't want to make it worse for you." Undyne smiled at Alphys. "I'm here if you want to talk about it, anytime!"

"Thanks, but, I don’t think I can. I'm s-sorry." Alphys lifted her tea enough to take another small sip.

"You don't have to talk about it if it's too difficult. I understand. I'm not the best at this kinda stuff anyway. I don't even know what to do about Papyrus. I don't know how to make this better for him. I thought I could get him to smile if I distracted him from everything, but he keeps getting sadder. Which is saying something because he spent nearly an hour sobbing and hugging me last night." Undyne shrugged with dismay. She couldn't help but to feel like she was failing Papyrus when he needed her the most.

"He's in a r-rough spot. I mean he just lost his only family in an unexpected way. Of course he's not handling things well." Alphys looked over at Undyne. "He kept asking me why Sans would kill himself. I didn't have an answer for him. I don’t even think Sans would kill himself-" Alphys stopped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"What do you mean?" Undyne thought it was awfully suspicious the way she stopped herself from speaking. What was going on?

"It's just, well." Alphys looked more nervous than normal, her eyes darting around the lab. "I dunno. I worked with him for a long time. I knew he was upset or depressed about something, but I never got the feeling he would do something like this. He loves Papyrus, you know? Sans wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"I didn't know him as well as you or Papyrus. And I've never felt suicidal either." Undyne sighed. "So it's not like I can really understand. But Papyrus saw him do it. He even told Papyrus that he was tired and that there is no escape. I can’t see what else this could be."

"I guess you're right. I m-mean, I um, could be wrong. I haven't seen Sans much lately at all. Things could've changed. It just seems, uh, strange. Maybe something else happened?” Alphys looked around her lab again, sweat starting to form on her forehead.

“Like what?” Undyne asked. It felt like Alphys knew something and wasn’t saying.

“I dunno. I’m really not sure where I’m going with this. I’m sorry. And. Um, is it okay for you to see me now? Shouldn't you be with Papyrus?" Alphys bit her lip.

"He's taking a nap right now, so it's fine. Oh actually, he had a question for you." Undyne decided to let it go for the moment. Maybe Alphys just didn’t want to believe that Sans would die like that? Hell if Undyne knew.

"F-for me?" Alphys looked startled.

"Yeah, something about timelines? And Sans? He didn't really elaborate." Undyne didn't understand any of that science crap!

"O-oh goodness. I didn’t know Papyrus knew about that. Sans had a machine for reading timelines, or alternate universes. They could be called the same thing, depending on how you want to label it." Alphys adjusted her glasses. "It's actually pretty complicated and all speculative theory, but in essence, there are other worlds out there, some nearly identical to our own, some vastly different. There are some who speculate that it might be possible to cross from one timeline to another, erm," Alphys suddenly stopped speaking, looking sheepish.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Undyne asked

"Oh, I thought maybe I was rambling too much. I find the topic of alternate universes to be very fascinating." Alphys blushed a deep red.

"Nah, it's cool! I like seeing you so passionate about something! Even if I don't understand it at all!" Undyne laughed. Seeing Alphys all fired up got Undyne all fired up. She wanted to suplex a boulder! Or suplex Alphys!

"If you want to understand, you know, to explain it to Papyrus, I know of an anime that talks about it a lot. It's called Steins;Gate, it's really cool. It's about this science guy, he really likes Dr Pepper, it's kinda why I like soda too, but um, he can send text messages to the past! Because of that he can end up in different timelines, and oh, maybe we should just go watch it." Alphys rambled on, which was super cute! That passion!

"Hell yeah! Let's watch your anime!" Undyne stood up, pumping her fists. Even if this wasn't a fighting anime, it still sounded cool as heck. She couldn't wait to watch it!

It was many hours later, many many hours in fact, that Undyne woke up, Alphys snuggled up next to her, as they both sat on Alphys bed with the laptop open in front of them. The anime had ended, so Undyne guessed she fell asleep. She pulled out her phone to check the time.

"Oh crap! It's morning!" Undyne leapt up, knocking Alphys over in the process.

"Uh, huh? Oh goodness! Eeep!" Alphys jumped up as well. "Aaa! I have to feed them, aaaa!!!"

"Sorry Alphys, I gotta run, I'll text you later!" Undyne ran over to the escalator, jumping down two steps at a time. "Thanks for the sick anime!"

"B-bye!" Alphys called after her.

Undyne sprinted across Waterfall. She was so stupid! How could she fall asleep and leave Papyrus alone for so long?

"Papyrus!" Undyne called out before she even reached the door to his house. No answer, not that she really expected one. She flung open the door, scanning the interior for her friend.

She really didn't expect to see him lying motionless on the kitchen floor. "Papyrus?" She dashed over and shook him, but he didn’t respond or move at all.

“Papyrus!”

* * *

Flowey burrowed under the door, looking for Toriel. It took him a minute to find her, sitting on the front step of her house, twisting the fabric of her tunic in her hands.

"Howdy! Are you okay, mom?" Flowey slapped a leaf over his mouth. God dammit! He was being so stupid today. "I mean, Miss Toriel."

"Oh, hello little one." Toriel smiled meekly. "You may call me 'mom' if you like."

Flowey laughed, trying to play off his idiotic mistake. How many resets had he gone through and he still couldn't stop calling Toriel his mom? What was wrong with him? "Well, mom, I hope you are okay. I come bearing terrible news from Snowdin."

"Bad news? Did Asgore send you, my child?" Toriel's voice rose in pitch, but her facial expression hardly changed.

"No. I saw him sulking outside the door to the ruins though." Flowey really wanted to tell Toriel the bad news first. Then he could get her to talk to Asgore. "It's about Sans the skeleton."

"Who?" She looked genuinely confused.

Right! They didn’t even know each other's names. God, how stupid. "Papyrus' brother."

That got her attention. She sat up straight, looking at Flowey with worry. "Oh, I was not aware of his name. What is the news?"

"He passed away." Flowey put on his best sad face. "He took his own life two days ago."

Toriel put her paws up to her face as she gasped. "It cannot be!"

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, mom, I know this must be hard on you. I'm so very sorry for your loss." Flowey slithered up closer to her, placing a leaf on her arm. "Will you be okay?"

"Yes. It is very unexpected. He was the only one I trusted outside of the ruins. My only friend." Toriel sighed. "He has not come to visit me in two days. I had wondered where he went. I no longer have to wonder. I appreciate you coming all this way to bring me this news."

"No problem! But hey, do you think that what King Asgore was trying to tell you has something to do with Sans' death? Perhaps you should speak with him." Flowey grinned up at Toriel. She had to go talk to him! Flowey was so curious!

"There is nothing that man could possibly say that would make me want to listen." Toriel's voice was as cold as ice. Flowey shivered involuntarily. Guess they weren't gonna talk.

"I see. Well, I need to get back to Snowdin and make sure Papyrus is okay. He's not taking his brother's death well." Flowey backed away from Toriel, faking a sad look. "The funeral is tomorrow, if you want to come. I think it would really help Papyrus if you were there, you know, since you were such good friends with his brother."

"Oh. I see. I will… consider it." Toriel smiled softly at Flowey. "If you desire, please come visit me anytime, small one."

Ugh. Flowey waved at her before ducking underground. He was not coming back if he could help it. As he was leaving, he could hear Toriel sobbing uncontrollably behind him. She really liked that skeleton, even though he was so annoying!

(Did she cry like that when Chara died? When… Asriel died?)

Flowey guessed he should go check on Papyrus now. He was probably done crying, at least.

* * *

Papyrus opened his eyes, seeing Undyne hovering over him with panic flashing in her eye. "Are you okay?”

“I’m…” Papyrus didn’t feel very okay, so saying that would be a lie. Instead he finished with an, “I’m awake.”

“Oh God! You wouldn't wake up for so long! I was so scared, Papyrus!" She had tears in her eye as she pulled him in for another bone crushing hug. "I thought you had fallen down!"

"Oh." Papyrus remembered crying in the kitchen. He probably exhausted himself. And passed out on the floor. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but could you let me go before you crack my ribs?"

"Heh, sorry Pap." Undyne let him go. Papyrus wobbled a bit, so she steadied him with her hands. "You really don't look well. Are you okay?"

"Honestly, I'm not okay." Papyrus breathed out slowly. "I'm losing all my hope, Undyne. I don't see the point in going on without Sans."

"Don't say things like that!" Undyne wrapped him in a much less crushing hug. "I mean, it's good you told me, I just don't want you thinking that way. You have a bright future ahead of you! You don't want to give that up, right?"

Papyrus shook his head. "It’s just so hard.”

“I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you last night. I’m really sorry Pap. It’s gonna be okay though, I won’t leave you alone like that again.” She trembled against him.

Papyrus knew that he couldn’t always depend on others, but for the moment, it was fine if he needed a little extra help. “It’s okay Undyne. And you know, I am the one who is supposed to make sure no monsters lose hope. I should start with myself first.”

"That's the right attitude!" Undyne grinned at him.

"Yes, and I suppose Sans would be very angry with me if I gave up. I need to keep living for his sake." Papyrus smiled back. Yes, he was the great Papyrus! Why was he thinking of giving up? He never gave up, no matter what. That's what made him so great!

"Exactly." Undyne looked him over, a realization coming to her face. "Oh shit! You haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday. No wonder you are doing so bad!"

Had it really been that long? Papyrus had cried for a very long time in that case. It was almost embarrassing. He tried to stand, but found his limbs weren't being very obedient. "Can you help me up?"

"Yeah, let's get you over to the couch." Undyne picked Papyrus up bridal style, laughing the whole way. "You are way too light!"

"Well I'm only skin and bone! Minus the skin, of course." Papyrus laughed back.

Undyne placed him on the couch. It was nice to be on something soft again. Sleeping on the floor did a number on his bones. It was hard for him to concentrate at the moment, but Undyne eventually brought him over some soup. He ate it, feeling his strength and clarity of mind return.

"Looking better already!" Undyne rubbed Papyrus' head.

"Please do not noogie the skeleton!" Papyrus cried out

"But I gotta! You made me worry so much!" Undyne laughed as she continued. "It's been a crazy couple of days, huh."

"Yes. Indeed." Papyrus felt like it had been the longest two days of his life.

"Oh right!" Undyne snapped her fingers. "Alphys told me about those timeline things! We even watched a whole anime! I gotta tell you all the cool things I learned!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Alright! So listen up Paps!" Undyne grinned wickedly as she sat next to Papyrus on the couch. "It's like you were saying. Time doesn't flow in a straight line, exactly. It's more like many branching paths. Every time something changes, a new path appears. It can even be little things, like you deciding to have lasagna instead of spaghetti."

Papyrus huffed out, "Like that would ever happen!"

"But it could! And then you would be on a different path. A different timeline. It wouldn't change much though. Only certain events could cause a huge shift, and those put you on a whole new, like line. One that is parallel to this one." Undyne explained, her eyes sparkling. This really excited her, it seemed.

"Sans' death is probably a whole new line then." Papyrus frowned. "In another timeline… he's still alive."

"Yeah well." Undyne frowned too, her sharp teeth showing. "That's not the timeline we are living in Paps. And this is all theo-theore…. theoretical! It's not like we can travel to other timelines or anything like that."

"Then this is the _worst possible timeline!"_ Papyrus groaned, leaning back against the cushions. "I wish there was a way to go back. A way to save Sans."

"I know buddy. But we can't do that. I know that Sans was researching timelines, but Alphys said he never managed to finish the machine that would let him travel between them." Undyne tapped a finger against her chin. "Why would he even want to do something like that? Was he looking for a timeline where we aren't all trapped or something?"

Sans had a machine? Well Papyrus should assume he did. His brother must've known a lot about timelines. He even knew which one they currently were on, if that note was any indication. Not that it helped Papyrus any to know about this. He was trapped in the most awful of timelines. "I feel like Sans had a lot of secrets."

"Looks like it. He never really told you about any of this, huh?"

Papyrus shook his head. "I feel like I've been left in the dark! Sans kept so much to himself. His work with Alphys, whatever he was doing with the King. He never told me anything. I tried to get him to open up plenty of times, but he would close himself off to me. Especially when…"

Papyrus paused, looking down at his empty bowl of soup. That had been such a touchy subject to Sans. It was like Papyrus even mentioning it physically hurt him. "When I asked him about our parents."

"Your parents?" Undyne rubbed her chin. "I don't even know who your parents are. I never met them."

"Neither have I!" It was so frustrating. Papyrus felt something pulling in his memory when he tried to recall, like the thing he was trying to remember had been… erased and now there was nothing but empty space. "I asked Sans but he became angry at my question. I'm not sure he remembers either. Unless he does and he doesn't want to tell me? Because he thinks… it would hurt me?"

Papyrus sighed, looking at his gloved hand. "But he's gone. How will I ever get any answers now? What am I supposed to do?"

"I dunno Papyrus." Undyne stood up, stretching her arms over her head. "Maybe it's best to just let go of the past. Look towards the future instead!"

"Maybe." Papyrus stood up too. He felt much stronger after eating. "I think I want to go for a walk and get some fresh air."

"Oh, should I go with you?" Undyne offered.

"No, it's okay. I think I want to be alone for a bit. Besides, I should do a patrol! I'm part of the Royal Guard now!" Papyrus flashed a grin. 

"You don't have to," Undyne stopped herself. "Nah, actually go for it. It'll be good for you to get out there and help monsters. It might even cheer you up. I have some things I gotta get ready for tomorrow and I wanna talk to Asgore. So I'll go do that now. But if you feel sad or like you're losing hope again, call me! I won't leave you alone like last night."

"I appreciate it Undyne! I'll meet you back here later." 

"See ya, punk!" Papyrus watched as Undyne left, before going to put on his armor. He was ready to do his duty!

* * *

It wasn't exactly easy to find monsters that were losing hope. Well, mostly everyone seemed down, but upon seeing Papyrus they tried to cheer him up instead. Especially when he went into Grillby's.

" _...........Papyrus_." Grillby's muffled voice sparked among his flames. " _You are welcome to a free meal if you want it._ "

"No, no it's quite alright." Papyrus wasn't exactly fond of the greasy food here, but it felt rude to outright say that! Plenty of monsters enjoyed it. "How are you? You look less… firey."

Grillby held up his hands, " _.........Don't worry about me_."

Papyrus nodded and looked around the pub. The canine unit was out on patrol, but there were a few regulars still hanging around. One monster with big swirly eyes and rabbit ears was leaning heavily on a table. They called over to Papyrus. "Papy! Are you doing okay?"

"I'm holding up. How are you doing?" Papyrus asked. They looked a bit down. Or maybe they had fused with the table?

"I miss Sansy! It's so quiet in here without him." Their eyes began to water. 

"I know, it's been hard on us all. Can I do anything to help you?" Papyrus nodded. 

They shook their head, their ears flopping all over the place. "Don't worry about me! You're the one who lost his brother."

Papyrus didn't feel like he was helping anyone. He felt like his presence was upsetting them more. Perhaps it was? Well, no matter. He decided to go take a stroll in Snowdin forest. 

It was cooler in the forest, not that it mattered to Papyrus. He couldn't really feel the cold anyway. A few monsters wandered about, minding their own business. Papyrus couldn't find anyone to really help, so he headed deeper into the woods. 

He started to think. That dream he had. The one before he fell into despair. The one where Sans asked him to kill Flowey. That dream hadn't made any sense, Sans knew Papyrus. If that was really him, no way would he ever ask Papyrus to hurt anyone. 

Still, he has a lingering feeling of doubt in his chest. What if someone killed Sans? But how? And if they did… would they have EXP?

Papyrus had never told Sans about this, but he could easily see the LV and EXP of monsters. This was apparently not a common trait, in fact no one he knew even mentioned those things. So by the time Papyrus realized no one else could see all the stats, he hardly thought it was worth bringing up. The only monster Papyrus had ever seen with LV was the King. Papyrus assumed that must've been from the war. Everyone else was at LV 1. If someone else had LV, maybe… maybe they hurt Sans?

What was he even thinking? Even if someone did have LV, that proved nothing. Papyrus had seen Sans kill himself, after all. So his dream probably meant nothing. 

"Papyrus!"

He was so lost in his thoughts he hardly noticed the monster in front of him. "King Asgore?"

"Howdy!" Asgore smiled, but his eyes looked a bit duller than usual. "It's nice to see you out and about. How have you been?"

It was rather strange to see the King so far from New Home. "I'm doing as well as can be expected! How are you, King Asgore? What brings you to Snowdin?"

"I'm fine. I was here for…" Asgore wrung his paws together, looking past Papyrus at the snow covered trees. "Well it hardly matters. I must be off, I need to prepare for my speech. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, see you tomorrow." Papyrus hated thinking about the upcoming funeral. It made things feel so final. And everyone would be so sad…

Papyrus continued walking. And walking. Until he reached Sans sentry station, next to the one that Papyrus had constructed himself! Dogamy and Dogaressa were at the post instead. Papyrus gave them both a pat, which delighted the dogs, before continuing on.

Something Alphys had said bothered Papyrus. Apparently Sans had slacked off and gone to the door to the ruins every day, instead of being a good sentry and staying at his post. Or helping Papyrus with his puzzles. Now, the question was why. Sans was lazy. It was easier to slack off at his sentry station than to go somewhere else. He wouldn't do something without motivation. Right?

As he approached the door, he heard a loud and heartbreaking sobbing.

"Hello?" Papyrus called out.

"Oh my!" The voice was very startled. "I am very sorry, but could you please leave me alone?"

Someone was crying! Papyrus couldn't leave them alone. It was his job to make sure no one lost hope, after all. Even if this monster wanted to be left alone, something in her voice was practically begging him to stay. "Why are you crying?"

"I lost a dear friend." The door replied.

"Oh, I can help you find them!" Papyrus was the best at finding things!

"No, not like that. I meant that he passed away." The door gave a shuddering sigh.

"Oh, you mean Sans, right?" Papyrus sat down in front of the door, looking at it with melancholy. So was this why Sans came here? To talk to the door?

"Yes. I feel like he was well-liked among the townsfolk. Did you know him well?" The door asked.

"Yes. He was my brother." Papyrus nodded.

"Papyrus!" The door squeaked out. "Oh, I did not expect you to come personally. I am so very sorry for your loss. How are you doing?"

"I'm feeling a bit better today. I'm worried about you. Can I help you with anything?"

The door chuckled sadly. "No, thank you. Papyrus, you truly are as wonderful as Sans always told me. Such a kind heart."

"Sans spoke about me? Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed. 

"Yes. When he wasn't telling me jokes, he spoke exclusively about you. He said you were the coolest little brother in the world." 

"It's true!" Papyrus stood up, striking a pose with a hand dramatically at his chest. "I am the great Papyrus!"

The door chuckled again. "I heard the funeral is tomorrow, is it not?"

"Yes, you are invited to attend. If you can make it." Papyrus nodded.

"I will try my best." The door sighed.

"I understand if it is difficult! I don't know how door monsters get around!" Papyrus pointed directly at her.

The door laughed louder. "I am not the door. I am behind it." She paused so she could laugh some more. "Thank you for visiting me. You really cheered me up."

"Another great job by the stupendous Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus jumped a bit in the air. He had given hope to someone at least! "I'll be seeing you, Miss Not A Door Lady!"

As he jogged away, he could hear her laughing in the distance.

It felt good to make someone laugh. Papyrus felt the lightest he had been in days.

* * *

Everyone was coming to the ruins today. First Asgore and now Papyrus? Flowey was glad that Papyrus hadn't said anything that would blow his cover. In fact, this was even better! Maybe Toriel would actually leave the ruins. No matter how much Flowey reset, Toriel had never once left. This could be interesting.

But there was something else interesting! That key! Flowey had to get it from Papyrus. Papyrus was clearly not going to figure out what it was for, but he still kept carrying it around. Flowey had to get his vines on it. 

He waited until Papyrus was a good distance from any sentry stations before popping up. "Howdy Papyrus!"

"Flowey!" Papyrus jumped up, nearly straight out of his armor. He looked at Flowey with a strange expression. What was that about? 

"So, whatcha up to buddy?" Flowey asked.

Papyrus didn't reply, instead bending down to look more closely at Flowey. His eye sockets narrowed as he stared right into Flowey's face. "Tell me Flowey. How did you gain so much LV?"

"What?" Flowey stuttered back from Papyrus. "How could you possibly know that? You never knew that before!"

"I never bothered to look." Papyrus' expression was very serious. It was… unsettling. "So my friend, can you tell me what you did? Please?"

Flowey crossed two vines against his chest. He hadn't realized that he gained the EXP from Sans' death. He hadn't killed anyone else on this run, so that had to be it. How did Papyrus know? Sans could tell, so did that mean his brother could too? Well, speaking of which, whenever Flowey and Papyrus play-fought, Papyrus would stop the battle when Flowey's HP hit 1. Flowey was so stupid! Why didn't he realize that Papyrus could read stats? Maybe because Papyrus never questioned him even when he had LV before?

Papyrus was smarter than Flowey gave him credit for. This could be dangerous if he figured out where Flowey's EXP came from. Time to lie!

"Oh that? I helped the King kill a human once. I was only trying to help monsters out, you understand, right?"

Papyrus narrowed his eyes further. "I want to trust you…"

"Then trust me! I've only been your bestest friend, right? Would I lie to you?" Flowey smiled up at him.

"I suppose not?" Papyrus stood up, but his hand was tightly clenched into a fist. "Flowey…"

"Well, I better get going! See you at the funeral tomorrow!" Flowey quickly burrowed under the ground. Shoot! He couldn't ask Papyrus about the key if he was already suspicious of him. He could just kill him and take it… but he had made a promise to Sans. Ugh!

With nothing better to do, Flowey followed Papyrus at a distance, wishing that tomorrow could come faster. Stupid skeleton was having his funeral then. That was bound to be entertaining!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like all Skeleton have the ability to read stats. Even ******. Ah, but let's not talk about him. It's rude to talk about someone who's listening.
> 
> Sans powers are stronger than Papyrus. He can see LV easily. He could detect souls as well (like when he uses his psychic powers on souls). Papyrus can't see that much, but if he concentrates he can see the LV and EXP a monster might have.
> 
> Anyway, I was working on some character designs for something but then I drew this Sans and it's the best Sans I ever drew. Please appreciate him, he's.... having a bad time.


	9. Chapter 9

Finally Undyne had gotten in contact with Asgore. His calls kept going to voice-mail all morning. The time and place for the speech was all sorted out. That was one big worry off Undyne's chest. However that was not how the majority of the morning was spent. 

Undyne had spent way too much time convincing Muffet to do catering for the funeral. Only once one of her little spider buddies came crawling down on a string to tell Muffet that Sans had been nothing but kind to spiders did she agree. Getting Grillby to agree was way easier. Papyrus didn't really like Grillby's food but it was better than Mettaton's… weird restaurants. She remembered with disgust when she found out that his steaks made in the shape of his face were made by him slamming his face into the steaks! Who does that?

Typically funerals were pretty fun affairs! Celebrating the long life of a monster with all their friends and family. This was a different story and Undyne wasn't sure how it would go. Not many monsters committed suicide. Well at least Undyne assumed so. Some monsters went missing and their dust was never found. It could be that more monsters were lost to suicide and there was no real way of knowing. That was besides the point. Having good food would help lift everyone’s spirit even if the funeral was a more somber affair than most.

Anyway, now Undyne was rushing back to Papyrus' house after making a quick stop at her own house for some spare clothes. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be staying with Papyrus and she hated every single time she had to leave him alone. Lately, she had been running around a lot, but that was good for her training. Soon she would be back at her regular post... Right?

Once this was all over… would things go back to normal? Undyne felt the water splashing under her feet and saw the walls of the caverns shimmering around her. It felt strange to think about life after all this. Eventually Undyne would go back home, Papyrus would settle into his new role, things would continue on. This would be… their new normal.

Maybe that was okay! Things were always changing. Even if this change came from some really sorrowful events, that didn't mean it was all bad. Change had to happen after all! Otherwise they'd be stuck in a boring loop of days.

Undyne had picked up her leather jacket from her house and as she was reaching Snowdin, she threw it on. No more freezing her scales off! Her boots kicked up the snow as she plowed straight for Papyrus' house.

"Papyrus!" Undyne called out as she threw open the door. "I'm back!"

Papyrus turned towards her from his position near the table, his eyes very wide. "You never fail to startle me!"

"Think of it like training! Gonna startle you so much you are prepared for anything!" Undyne put her hands on her hips. That totally sounded like fun training!

"Nyeh. Sounds good." Papyrus turned back towards the table. He was holding a sprinkle container? And sprinkling them out on top of a rock?

"Whatcha doing?" Honestly Undyne felt a bit worried. Papyrus had seemed okay when she left, and she thought he would cheer up after talking to everyone, but he looked even more miserable now.

"Feeding our pet rock! I forgot to feed them…" Papyrus sighed.

"I think that's enough sprinkles for the rock." Undyne tilted Papyrus' hand upright so he wouldn't spill anymore out. "Oh, are you hungry? I can make some lunch!"

"Lunch? Can it be a cooking lesson?" Papyrus put the canister down, a bit of light coming to his face. 

"Sure thing! We missed out on your normal lesson, so let's do one now!" Undyne pumped her fists into the air. "Hell yeah! Let's make some mac and cheese!"

"Oh! Not spaghetti?" Papyrus' eyes were shining with joy. "I think I had mac and cheese before! Sans made it! The noodles were shaped like dinosaurs!"

"We aren't making the box kind! We are making homemade. It's even better than the box kind!" Undyne threw open a cabinet and took out a box of elbow macaroni.

"Wowie! It was so good! I can't imagine it being better!"

"Prepare to have your mind blown then!" Undyne slammed a pot and a pan onto the stove top. "First! We add the pasta!"

"I got this!" Papyrus ripped open the box, throwing the pasta in with such force that several pieces disintegrated upon impact. Other pieces went flying through the kitchen like bullets. Papyrus had gotten so good at this!

Undyne poured in the water and motioned Papyrus over to her. She grabbed a block of cheese from the fridge and a grater. "I'll show you how to make the sauce next time, but for now I need you to grate this cheese like your life depends on it!"

"You got it, Captain!" Papyrus grabbed the cheese, and started grating it onto the counter.

"Harder!" Undyne screamed, her attention on Papyrus as she threw the ingredients into the pan to make the roux.

"Yes!" Papyrus started grating much harder, cheese flying into the air.

"HARDER!" Undyne belted out.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaagghh?!" Papyrus moved his hand at lightning speed. The block of cheese quickly vanished as it changed form into shredded cheese.

"Quick, add half into the pan!" Undyne demanded, holding it out for Papyrus.

Papyrus threw half of his staggeringly huge pile of cheese into the pan. It melted nearly instantly. Because magic!

"Okay, drain the pasta and put it into a casserole dish. Things are about to get crazy!" Undyne swirled the spoon around in her pan, splashing the cheesy sauce all over the stove.

Papyrus efficiently drained the noodles, added them to the dish, and then Undyne poured the sauce on top. "Okay, Papyrus, what I'm going to ask you to do next might sound like madness, but you need to trust me on this."

"Of course!" Papyrus eagerly awaited her instructions.

"Put the cheese on top." Undyne pointed towards the still towering pile of cheese Papyrus created.

"How much?"

"All of it." Undyne narrowed her eyes at him.

"But Undyne! It won't fit!" Papyrus' eyes teared up.

"You said you would trust me!" Undyne shoved the casserole dish towards him. "Quickly, before it's too late!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Papyrus screamed as he put the cheese on top. Somehow it all fit. Because… magic?

Undyne threw the whole dish into the oven. "And now we wait."

She stared intently at the oven. Papyrus joined her, his eyes darting from her to the oven. "How long-"

"It's done!" Throwing on some oven mitts, she pulled the dish from the oven. That aroma and the cheese on top browned to perfection, this wasn't just mac and cheese! It was art! (Also... magic!)

"Wowie! It looks fantastic!" Papyrus grabbed some plates from the cabinet. "I learned so much."

"Good. I'll teach you the sauce next time." Undyne served some of the mac and cheese onto both plates. "And great job! We didn't even catch anything on fire this time."

"An accomplishment that cannot be overstated!" He sat down with his plate at the table. "Thank you for that. I really needed a distraction."

Undyne sat down next to him. "I'm glad I could help. Did something happen while you were on patrol? You seemed a bit off when I came in."

Papyrus sighed as he took a spoonful of mac and cheese, the melted cheese stretching rather far from the plate as he lifted it to his mouth. "Hmm. I've been having some… dark thoughts."

"Dark thoughts?" Undyne stuffed some pasta into her mouth. "What's that mean?"

"Hmm." Papyrus put his spoon down. "Let me ask you a question. If someone does something truly evil, do they deserve to be forgiven?"

Undyne paused her chewing, her soul suddenly thumping in her chest. Had Papyrus done something… bad? "I think everyone deserves a chance at forgiveness, if they regret what they did and want to change for the better. What's this about-"

"Even if they killed someone?" Papyrus asked, looking at Undyne with wide open eyes.

"Papyrus, did you… hurt someone?" Undyne asked. There was no way! Papyrus would never hurt anyone. ...It was just that he looked so strange right now. It was unnerving.

"No. I think someone hurt Sans." Papyrus picked his spoon back up, twirling it among the pasta. 

"Eh? Hurt Sans? Before he died?" Undyne narrowed her eye at him.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think it was a suicide. I'm starting to think someone tricked him, or convinced him? Somehow? To kill himself." 

Undyne furrowed her brows. "Alphys said something like that too."

"She did?" Papyrus slammed a fist on the table, leaning in closer to Undyne. "What else did she say? Did she see something on one of her cameras?"

"Nothing like that. She seemed hesitant to even talk about it. She kept looking around like she was worried someone was listening." Undyne recalled.

"Hmmm." Papyrus put a hand under his chin. "I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

"Sure, but I don't really get it. Why are you both thinking this now? Did something happen today?"

"I'm not sure." Papyrus tapped his chin with a finger, but his eyes looked determined. "I had a dream where Sans basically said someone forced him into it. That he didn’t take his life by his own volition. Maybe it's wishful thinking, and I know it was only a dream, but a part of me wants to believe that it's true."

Undyne wasn't sure what to think. If it was a dream, then it probably was wishful thinking. Yet, if that was truly all it was, Papyrus wouldn't look so certain about it. If he knew something… if a monster was out there hurting monsters … Undyne had to know! "You aren't hiding anything from me, are ya? If you know something else, then tell me. I don't want a bad guy out there hurting people."

Papyrus shrugged. "I have nothing conclusive and I don't want to accuse any innocent parties. I'll let you know after I talk to Alphys. For now, let's talk about something else! Let me tell you about the door monster I met today!"

Undyne decided to let it go and let Papyrus ramble on about the monster he helped today. It seemed to cheer him up. If some monster was out there doing bad things, she was sure she’d find out soon enough.

* * *

Flowey grumbled to himself. First of all, that was way too much cheese! And no breadcrumbs? Could that travesty even be called mac and cheese? It was literally just noodles and cheese! Someone should teach them both to cook. His mom made the best mac and cheese, it couldn’t even compare…

Er, he didn’t want to think about that, actually.

Secondly, Papyrus had definitely caught on. Flowey grit his teeth. If he was connected to Sans death then it was game over. Undyne would hunt him down. She was the second hardest monster to kill. Sans being first of course. A battle with her might as well spell out a reset. Flowey had to figure out a way to stop Papyrus from spilling the beans.

Although. Flowey backed away from the skeleton house and looked across town towards the save spot. He could save just in case something happened. Then he wouldn't have to go all the way back. 

...

Not right now. Things would be fine for now. 

Flowey settled in for a long night of watching Undyne and Papyrus goof off and/or cry about Sans. Tomorrow would be more interesting, Flowey just had to wait.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent rather peacefully. Papyrus felt a bit guilty for not telling Undyne everything he knew about Flowey. It was just so hard to explain, especially since nearly no one knew about LV and EXP. That was his real proof that Flowey had hurt someone, but he wasn’t sure how to tell Undyne about it. If Flowey was telling the truth about helping the King get a human soul, then he was a hero, right? Papyrus couldn’t just accuse him of a crime and have him punished unfairly. No matter how much he believed that Flowey had done something to hurt Sans.

Undyne read him another bedtime story and Papyrus fell asleep that night in a serene state. He didn’t remember a single dream he had.

Papyrus had hoped for more dreams with Sans in that strange void place, but no luck. He woke up in his racecar bed, disappointed. If only he could ask Sans what Flowey did. Then he might have proof! But it wasn't like Papyrus could ever hurt Flowey. He could only bring him to justice if he did have a part in his brother's death. And even that… it wouldn’t bring Sans back.

There was a very sickening feeling in Papyrus' chest. A vague thought he didn't want to acknowledge. 

If Flowey had killed his brother, Papyrus wanted him to hurt for it.

He shouldn't think that. Kindness was always the answer, right?

Even if someone did wrong, they could always change for the better. Even if they killed his brother. Even… if it was really hard to believe in them.

He went downstairs, Undyne was lying on the couch with one arm and leg dangling off, her mouth open wide in a snore, and the blanket completely fallen to the floor. He gently put her back on the couch properly and tucked her in. She should get some more rest. The past few days had been tough on her, even if she didn't show it. 

Today was finally the day. It was Sans’ funeral. Papyrus wasn’t sure if he was ready for it. Honestly, he kept hoping against hope that this was all a very long and horrible nightmare. That he would wake up and see Sans lazing about the house, not doing his chores, and making terrible puns. That didn’t seem likely at this point.

With a sigh, Papyrus pulled out some leftover mac and cheese for breakfast. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like writing characters cooking badly. It’s like a hobby of mine. My other hobbies include writing fanfics about siblings and suffering. And crying. 
> 
> Next time we finally get the funeral which I'm excited to write! A lotta stuff is gonna happen. I didn't think it would take this long to get to this part lmao. But I have this weird tendency to write characters doing stupid things like... uhhh cooking. 
> 
> I'm very tired anyway I hope you enjoyed


	10. Chapter 10

Papyrus didn't own a lot of formal wear. He tended to wear t-shirts (with amazing phrases written on them) and shorts. It's not like Papyrus did formal things. He needed activewear for when he trained with Undyne! His lack of fashion sense was troubling him now as he looked through his closet for something to wear to the funeral.

There was the outfit he had worn when Sans graduated from college. It was a simple black button-down short and black slacks. Nothing too fancy. Although that might be best. Sans never got dressed up for anything. Even when he worked at the lab he would go wearing his slippers. He most likely didn’t want others to dress up for him either, even if it was his funeral.

Papyrus put on the outfit, using a belt to help keep his pants on his hips. Being all bones did make it difficult to keep clothes on! It also felt very restrictive to have long sleeves and pants. When he bent his knees the fabric got stuck in the joint. This is why he wore shorts all the time!

It was only for a few hours. Papyrus would make do. He headed downstairs, adjusting the button on the sleeves of his shirt so it wasn’t so tight. Undyne was already dressed, in fact it was in a very similar outfit to his. "Undyne, do I look alright?"

"Yeah! You clean up good, Papyrus. I've never seen you wear so much clothing before." Undyne gave him a thumbs up. "Are you ready for this?"

"I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I think we should get going." Papyrus went over towards the table where Sans' jacket was. He picked it up and held it loosely in his hands. "Do you think you can carry his dust?"

"You got it." Undyne picked up the box and they both headed outside.

The funeral had been set up in the center of town. There was a table in the center for Sans' dust and his jacket. Around that in a circle was some seating and the tables set up with food. Muffet and Grillby were already manning their stations, feeding those who had arrived earlier. Papyrus set down the jacket and looked around anxiously.

There were a lot of monsters here. Some he didn't even know. Sans really had a lot of friends. Everyone seemed calm as they chatted with each other. The last funeral Papyrus had been to felt like a celebration. This was… sad.

Papyrus saw Asgore nearby, talking with some of the canine unit. He waved at him, and the King called out for him. "Papyrus! How are you today?"

Papyrus walked over. "I'm doing alright. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I had a question for you." Asgore asked.

"What is it?" Papyrus asked.

"Well I was hoping you could be my personal guard for the speech tomorrow. You wouldn't have to do anything besides stand there with me, but I think your presence would be beneficial to all." Asgore picked up a donut from the table next to him, inspecting it with squinted eyes. "Is this really made from spiders?"

"I don't think so?" Papyrus felt excited though. The King needed him! "If you think it would be good, then of course I'll be your guard! I would be honored!"

"Thank you Papyrus, I really appreciate it." Asgore replied as he took a bite.

"Asgore!" Doggo called out to the king.

"Ah, seems I'm still needed. I'll talk with you again soon." Asgore headed over.

The King needed him for his speech! Being a part of the Royal Guard sure was exciting. At least that was a tiny bright spot on a less than stellar day. Papyrus picked up a donut from the table and took a bite.

"They _are_ made from spiders, dearie." Muffet gave him a fanged grin.

"Uh." Maybe Papyrus wasn't feeling so hungry at the moment.

Mettaton arrived a few minutes later. Without Alphys? He typically saw them together. Although it was intimidating to talk to such a celebrity, he had come to the funeral so Papyrus should greet him. "Hello! Mettaton!"

"Hello darling!" Mettaton took his hand. "I was deeply saddened by your loss! I hope you are doing alright?"

"I'm okay. Just trying my best." Papyrus smiled. Mettaton was holding his hand! How cool!

"Oh yes, I had a message from Alphys. She got caught up with something at the lab and is unable to make it today." Mettaton said, his square body glinting in the light like sparkles. He was a very glamorous robot!

"That's too bad…" Looks like Papyrus wouldn't be able to talk to her today. That was bad. He really needed to know if she knew anything about Flowey. His thoughts were interrupted by a clamor of voices behind him.

"Is that?"

"No way!"

"The Queen?"

"I thought she was dead!"

Papyrus looked where the source of the disturbance was. A tall regal looking monster with white fur was walking into town from the forest, looking a bit lost. She looked almost identical to Asgore, actually. Gasp! A clone.

Monsters crowded around her asking questions as she approached the funeral. "Please, silence," she demanded. Wait, Papyrus knew that voice. It was the not a door monster!

"I am simply here for the funeral. Nothing more. Treat me like any other monster, please." The monster glared over towards Asgore. "I do not particularly consider myself your Queen anymore. I am here for Sans and Papyrus. Is Papyrus here? I wish to speak with him."

Papyrus raised an arm up in the air and waved at her. He then jogged over, several monsters giving him looks. Well, this was a rather strange situation. He had no idea that the door monster was in fact the former queen of the underground! How could he have known that? Sans probably had no idea either.

“It is very nice to meet you, Papyrus. At least, without a door between us. You may call me Toriel.” She held out a hand for him to shake.

Papyrus shook her hand with vigor. “You really aren’t a door! It is nice to meet you too! Thank you for coming.” Sans must’ve meant quite a lot to her. No one had seen her in years, she must’ve been locked away in the ruins all alone for all that time. It sounded pretty lonely to Papyrus. At least she was out now! That was a good thing. Maybe Papyrus really had cheered her up the day before.

“Papyrus, I wanted to ask you something.” Toriel put an arm around his shoulder, leading him away from the group, a bit more towards the outskirts of town. “You are a sentry, are you not?”

“I’m actually a member of the Royal Guard now!” Papyrus proudly declared. “Although, I haven’t done much yet, I was tasked with making sure no monsters lose hope. That includes you, Miss Toriel! That’s why I wanted to talk to you when I heard you crying. I hope I helped a little.”

Toriel smiled softly. “You did, and I am sure your brother would be very proud to hear you are finally a member of the Guard. You truly are kind, Papyrus. Please, never lose that kindness you have inside you. It is such a rare trait to have.”

“Oh, yes.” Papyrus looked down at his feet. He had always tried to be kind, but his recent thoughts about Flowey… could those be considered kind? He wanted to hurt someone. Papyrus needed to do better.

“What I am about to ask you requires kindness as well. Perhaps it is selfish of me to even ask this of you, but Papyrus, if a human ever comes out from the ruins, could you protect that human for me? Make sure that they never come to harm?”

“Oh?” Papyrus raised his brows. They only needed one more human soul to get out of the Underground… but he could hardly refuse a request of the former queen, could he? Maybe she had a different plan in mind. Or maybe that human didn’t have to die. Wouldn’t that be great? Papyrus didn’t want to hurt anyone, anyway. “Yes, of course I will do that for you!”

“Thank you. That means the world to me. You truly are the coolest skeleton, just as Sans always said.” Toriel smiled so warmly it brightened even Papyrus’ heart. He would do his best to protect any humans from now on!

After chatting some more with the former queen, the funeral proper started. Asgore stood behind the table with Sans’ jacket and dust on it. He spoke in a loud voice, addressing the crowd. “We are here today to celebrate and honor the life of Sans the Skeleton. He was a vital part of our community, working as a Royal Scientist before retiring to work as sentry and several other odd jobs. He was well-regarded by his friends and family. It is unfortunate that he left us so soon.”

Asgore paused and picked up some of his dust, spreading it onto the jacket. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, may you live on in the thing you cherished the most.”

There was a solemn silence for a few seconds before Asgore continued. “Now, I ask for his family and friends to come up and say a few words and spread his dust as well, starting with his only surviving family, his younger brother Papyrus.”

Papyrus stood up, tears already in his eyes. Could he really do this? He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his brother yet. This wasn’t really goodbye though, right? Sans would live on in his jacket. That had to be true. Papyrus picked up some dust, and started to speak to the group. “Sans was the best brother anyone could ask for. He worked so hard to support us both. He might seem lazy, but I know he was trying his best, in his own way. I never really got to tell him how much I appreciated him while he was alive, so I hope my words can reach him now. Sans, you always called me the coolest brother around, but you were the coolest in my book. Thank you for everything.”

Papyrus spread the dust, sniffing back his tears.

* * *

Flowey looked on from way in the back, where no one was likely to spot him. This was way too sappy. Typically he reset before a funeral could happen. Or he didn’t bother to attend. This was the first time in a very long time that he actually saw one. Ugh. Everyone was saying all these nice things about Sans. How two-faced of them all! Papyrus was yelling at Sans for being lazy all the time! If he really meant what he said he should’ve said it when Sans was alive! He must not really mean it. Just worthless platitudes. Flowey found himself mentally checking out as more monsters spoke about Sans.

As the last of the dust was put on Sans’ jacket, the funeral came to a close. Everyone still milled about, talking to each other. Undyne was mainly focused on that monster kid who kept hopping around her. Papyrus was looking at his phone for some reason. Asgore was… going to talk to Toriel! Flowey had to hear this!

As he was heading over towards them, he noticed Papyrus texting something on his phone and then walking off towards his house. Hey! Where was he going? Should he follow him instead? He was so curious! But he had to know what Asgore and Toriel were going to talk about. Those two hadn’t talked in years! UGH! If only he didn’t have to choose.

Well technically, he could do both. He did have the power of saves and loads. He had said he would bring Sans back, but at this point, did that matter? Flowey was more interested in all the things that came out of his death! So who cares if he was gone forever? Not like Sans could do anything about it now.

Flowey reached out towards the save point. It’s warm glow filtered through him.

_The thought of never seeing that stupid smiley trashbag again fills you with determination._

_File Saved._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been looking forward to this chapter for a long time! I hope you enjoy. Also I'm so sorry for what happens. :(
> 
> In other less ominous news I added an image to the first chapter. I changed the description too. I also have about 30 seconds out of about 5 minutes animated for the ending. It's still rough, but I should be able to finish it in a timely manner. Look forward to that!!!

Toriel saw Asgore approaching her. 

Her soul screamed at her to run away, to go back to the ruins and hide for the rest of her eternal life. There was something holding her back. Not physically, of course. It had just been so nice to be out of the ruins and back in the rest of the Underground. Even if she was trapped, she felt less trapped here. So maybe that put her in a better mood today, even if it was a very sad day, and let her start a conversation with her estranged spouse.

"Toriel." Asgore had his head down, unable to even make eye contact with her. "I need to ask you something. No, it's more that I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Toriel said as she crossed her arms against her chest. 

Asgore looked up, not expecting her to listen at all, probably. He breathed out for a long moment before continuing, now more confident than before. "It's about our children. About Chara and Asriel."

Toriel hadn't heard those names in such a long time, even if they were always on her mind. "Yes?"

"I found some old video tapes from right before Chara fell ill." Asgore gripped his paws, swallowing roughly. "In those tapes, our children spoke of a plan, one to free all monsters. Chara decided to poison themselves so that Asriel could take their soul."

Toriel put a paw up to her mouth. "It cannot be." All this time she thought Chara fell sick, but to learn it was purposeful? Intentional? It made her heart ache. Her children wanted to free all monsters, even if it came at the cost of their lives.

Asgore put a hand on her shoulder. "Chara sacrificed themselves for the good of us all, but we both know they carried a deep sorrow within them. So did Sans, I believe. So much sorrow has befallen our people. I know if I do not act, there will be more deaths, more tragedy. I will not allow it. There will not be another suicide. I will make sure that monsters know their freedom again."

Toriel's eyes opened wide in shock. "What are you planning, Dreemurr?"

"Please, come to New Home tomorrow. I'm giving a speech, and I'd like you to be there with me. Please Tori. I admit now that you were right all along. I made so many mistakes, but I intend to start righting them. You do not have to forgive me, but please, at least come and see that I am trying."

He sounded so desperate. Toriel had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I'll be there."

"Thank you." He squeezed her arm. "Soon, being trapped underground will seem just like a nightmare. Now, I must go. I have much to prepare. See you tomorrow."

Toriel gulped but replied with, "Yes. See you then." 

It was hard to know what Asgore was thinking, but did he truly intend to do that? Would the monsters be free? Asgore… he had changed.

Toriel should be there for him, at the very least.

…

File Loaded

…

Papyrus paced back and forth as he looked at his phone. Alphys had texted him. "Sorry I couldn't make it! I shouldn't make excuses, but I got halfway there and thought about all the people who would be there and I totally freaked out! I'm such an idiot, I'm so sorry Papyrus."

Was her social anxiety that bad? He really needed to talk with her though. He was so suspicious of Flowey and his LV. "Can we talk? It's about Flowey and Sans. I think Flowey did something to him…"

The reply came so fast he nearly dropped his phone. "Ohmygod! You know Flowey? I think he did something too! It might not be safe to talk over text. We should go somewhere private. Let's meet up at Sans' workshop."

"Sans' workshop?"

"Yeah! It's right behind your house. Didn't you know that? I'll be there in a few minutes." 

It sounded familiar. It felt familiar. Yet Papyrus had no recollection of it in his mind. That key he kept carrying in his pocket. With absolute certainty, he knew that was what this key was for. He took long strides over towards his house.

Behind his house there was a door. Reaching out for the cool metal of the doorknob made his soul pound. This felt wrong, somehow. It was his house though, so it shouldn't. It just felt like… there was so much more hidden that Sans never told him. Finding out the truth was frightening.

The silver key unlocked the door. Papyrus headed inside. 

It wasn't that big of a room. It was mostly occupied by a large machine partially covered with a tarp. Papyrus pulled the tarp down so he could get a better look at it. It looked like a computer, although it was rather large and had many buttons. Too many buttons! There was an obvious power button, so he tried that. With a whirling of fans, it turned on. The screen lit up, asking for a password. Papyrus frowned at it. He typed in "password", but that failed, leaving him clueless. 

Well there were other things around the room. On the counter were blueprints for the machine. The font written on the blueprints was difficult to read, but he muddled through. "Timeline Machine."

Oh! This was that machine Undyne mentioned to him. The one Sans had been working on. It was broken though? Oh well. It's not like Papyrus could fix it.

Instead he started rummaging through the drawers on the counter. The first one contained a photo album. Papyrus flipped it open. Inside he could see pictures of his brother smiling brightly. It warmed his heart to see such a genuine smile. If only he knew who any of the other people in the photos were. How strange.

As he was placing the photo album back in the drawer, a card slipped out from the back. It had a poorly drawn picture on it. It looked like a human with shaggy brown hair, a purple monster, and a fluffy goat boy. Strangest of all…

It looked like Papyrus had drawn it himself. He wasn't the best at art, never had been, but he could recognize his own style. Yet, he couldn't have drawn this picture. Surely he would remember something like that. Written on the drawing was the words, "don't forget" in Sans' handwriting.

Papyrus put it down. It was worrying that he felt like he should remember something, but he didn't. Maybe he should move on? The next drawer had an ID badge from when Sans was working at the lab. Nothing too interesting there. Papyrus moved onto the third drawer.

There was a stack of reports in that drawer, they were written on official looking stationary. There was that strange font again. Some of it… looked really blurry. When he tried to focus his eyes on it, the letters swam away. Hmmm. That made it very difficult to read. As he was struggling, someone came in the door, causing Papyrus to look up.

"I'm here! S-sorry for the wait!" Alphys squeaked as she closed the door behind her. "Whatcha looking at?"

Papyrus held the papers out for her to see. "I found these in the drawer."

"These look like official lab entries, but it's written in those strange symbols again. I can't make heads or tails of them. I keep finding stuff written like this back at the lab." Alphys appraised. 

"Hmm. It does say it is an entry. It's a bit hard to make it out." Papyrus' eyes swam around, trying to read the murky writing.

Alphys looked really excited. "You can read it? You have to tell me what it says! And come back to my lab and read the other reports too!"

"Um. Well, we are supposed to be talking about Flowey…" Papyrus was a little curious too though. "Maybe I can read a few to you?"

"Yes! Thank you Papyrus!" Alphys clapped her hands together. "We can talk about Flowey after that."

Papyrus held out the documents and did his best to read them out loud.

* * *

**Entry *****

The King has graciously allowed us to borrow the human souls. Monster souls cannot withstand the extraction process, I refuse to put any monster in harm's way to even try. Human souls are much more resilient. No harm shall come to them, and with the determination, I shall be able to get the machine running again. Sans and Alphys are prepping the extractor as we speak. I can _heart_ -ly wait to see what happens.

**Entry *****

no, ***, why? no puns in official documents 

**Entry *****

I can't help myself! I gripped by the urge! I think I have an illness. I'm suffering from ap _pun_ dicitis!

**Entry *****

i think it's contagious. oh no ***, my ap _pun_ dix burst! im literally dying here

**Entry *****

WILL YOU TWO STOP MESSING AROUND! Stop pretending ketchup is blood, you are not dying Sans! And ******, are you pretending to defibrillate him with ping pong paddles? Oh my god. Can we PLEASE just get the DT extractor running?

**Entry *****

Sorry. 

sorry. heh.

**Entry *****

Although the extractor ran flawlessly, the determination we extracted was not pure enough to run the machine. We either need much higher quantities, which I am unsure if the machine can handle, or a purer source. Souls of different colors just aren't going to work. 

**Entry *****

After talking with Asgore, I have found a determination soul. As I theorized, the first human soul did not vanish when Asriel returned from the outside. It's power has greatly diminished and it is no longer capable of being absorbed by another monster. Only one monster can absorb a soul, it seems. If the soul persists after the absorption, it becomes what I call a "zombie" soul. Stuck in a place between life and death. It is in a highly fragile state, but with it still sticking around so long after the first human's death, it must have astronomical levels of DT. I think we can use it.

**Entry *****

As expected, the soul gave us pure determination and survived the process. Asgore is allowing us to hold onto it for now, in case we need it again. I highly doubt that. Once we get the machine running, monsters will finally be free, with no more bloodshed. Sans and Alphys! Please prepare the timeline machine. 

**Entry *****

**** ****** *** ******

*** ******** ***** *******

*** ******* ******* ******

****** ******* ********

**** **** ********** ***** 

****

****

***********

What do you two think?

**Entry *****

something went wrong

**Entry *****

this is gonna sound crazy, but i can't remember who wrote the previous entries. it feels like there are strange holes in my memory. even reading over the entries i can't make sense of any of it. who is the person mentioned in the entries? i can't read the name. 

other things are missing too. the human soul mentioned? i can't find a trace of it. the machine is broken. i have no idea how it broke or how to fix it. i don't know why we were using it in the first place.

i don't like any of this. alphys remembers less than i do. clearly she worked here for a while and yet i swear she just joined the lab. how can these reports contradict my own memories? what is going on?

on a more personal note, i can't remember my childhood anymore. only small memories surface. papyrus has no recollection either. it hurts my soul. it hurts. it hurts?

oh it really hurts

i just checked my soul. something is wrong. it's cracked. there is a strange red glow to it. i am worried. 

_I am very worried._

actually, i better bring these reports home with me. no one can know about this.

* * *

Papyrus put the papers down, one hand holding his mouth, the other holding the counter to steady himself. "There was something wrong with Sans' soul."

"A cracked soul?" Alphys paced back and forth, holding her tail. "A monster can't survive with a cracked soul! They would fall down! Not to mention Sans only had one HP to begin with. He would be dust instantly! And who the heck was that person without a name? Ugh! I'm so confused!"

"Was Sans going to die? Is that why he… killed himself?" Papyrus felt himself trembling. "No, but what about Flowey?"

"Oh right!" Alphys stopped pacing, pounding a fist into her hand. "Flowey came to the lab right after Sans died. He blackmailed me into giving him information about Sans. I think he might've blackmailed your brother into killing himself. I mean, if he knew some of the stuff in these reports, Flowey could've threatened Sans pretty easily."

Papyrus frowned. Flowey really wasn't that great of a monster. "Flowey really blackmailed you?"

"Yeah! I was suspicious of him right away. I was s-s-sc…. too afraid to tell Undyne, since the blackmail involved her… and a lot of other awful things… but I can't hold back anymore. If Flowey hurt your brother then he has to be punished." Alphys grabbed her tail, stroking it again. "Maybe this is for the best."

"Yes." In his dream… Sans told him to kill Flowey, but perhaps he just wanted retribution. Papyrus would make sure justice was served. His brother hadn't killed himself after all, Papyrus was certain of that now. "Do you mind informing Undyne? I think I need a few minutes."

"Oh! Of course. This must be so very hard on you. I'll let her know. Don't worry, your brother's killer won't get away with this." Alphys scurried away, out the door.

Papyrus stared blankly at the machine. Maybe… maybe he knew the password…

…

File Loaded

…

"Undyne! Undyne! You are so cool!" Monster kid jumped around her, with the enthusiasm that only came with being a child. "Can you come visit my school?"

"Well, maybe someday kid. I think your parents are looking for ya. Don't make them worry." Undyne replied, watching Papyrus out of the corner of her eye. He was going off somewhere and his expression looked very bothered. She should check on him, but this kid wouldn't leave her alone. 

"But Undyne!" Monster kid whined. 

"Howdy!" A flower popped out of the snow covered ground at her feet. The sudden appearance sent Monster kid running, then falling, then running again. Undyne had never seen a talking flower before and was pretty startled herself, but not enough to take off running. 

"Hello?" Undyne asked as she bent down to the flower's height. "Did you need something?"

"Yes! It's very urgent." The flower swayed in a panic. "There is a monster in the forest and they are hurting other monsters! You are captain of the Royal Guard right? You have to help!"

Wait, was Papyrus right? Was there a monster out there hurting others? Could this be Sans' murderer? She had to check it out! "Lead the way!"

The flower led her through the forest. She kept an eye out for any signs of a struggle or yelling. It was oddly quiet. A silent fear came over her heart, but she wasn't afraid of anything! So there was no problem. No matter what the issue was, she would solve it.

That is, until they were crossing over a bridge suspended between two cliffs. The drop below was very far, but Undyne wasn't scared of heights! She just didn't like looking down. Maybe she should have, because something wrapped around her ankle, pulling her into the air.

Before she could fight back or do anything, really, she was thrown off the side of the bridge. Oh shit! She was falling! Undyne looked up with her eye wild and shaking. That flower was looking down at her and grinning the most demonic grin she had ever seen.

Oh. The monster hurting others was the flower.

Before she hit the ground, she felt an awful pang of regret for not listening to Alphys and Papyrus more carefully. And now she was leaving them both alone…

"I'm sorry."

_**CRUNCH.** _

Everything went black as her soul cracked and shattered.

...

File Saved

...


	12. Chapter 12

Papyrus knew his brother pretty well. At least his habits he knew, he had been clueless about all these secrets and his soul being cracked. Nevertheless his brother was lazy and that meant his password to the machine was lazy too. Probably something he had written down somewhere. Papyrus typed out what he was thinking.

_> don'tforget_

_> password accepted_

The machine booted up with a small chiming sound. Much like the computer Papyrus had in his room, this one had several icons on the homescreen, with the background being what looked like a starry night sky. Papyrus had never actually seen one, but from what he heard, this is what one looked like. Sans had brought him to Waterfall plenty of times with his telescope and they pretended to look at the stars. He hoped that one day he could look up at such a real sky, even if it wasn't with his brother. Maybe he could bring Sans' jacket with him if he did, that way his brother could see the true stars too. At least it would be a nice sentiment. 

Papyrus was getting distracted. He turned his attention to the screen.

The first icon that caught his eye was one for a program called "Timeline Reader". Papyrus opened up the program. Sure enough, it showed many strings of numbers much like the one on the note in his pocket along with some additional information beside it. Was this for real? Papyrus looked over the timelines with curiosity.

_UK-P-6890 24 minutes ago, current timeline, doomed probability 87%_

_UK-P-5436 47 minutes ago, stopped_

_UK-P-5435 60 minutes ago, stopped_

_UK-P-1000 4 days ago_

_TL-S-3779 4 days ago, stopped 77 times_

_TL-S-3779 2 month ago, true reset_

Papyrus fished out the paper from his pocket. So two months ago they had been on the timeline stated on this paper. Then when Sans died, the timeline shifted dramatically. So his death had changed their timeline then? 

It was stranger still that the timelines kept changing recently. What did a stopped timeline mean? Was it a timeline that didn't go anywhere? Confusing. And what did doomed probability mean? Doomed to… continue? Because Papyrus felt doomed to continue living in the worst timeline ever. This was all way over Papyrus' head anyway. He didn't understand, and looking at it was exhausting, but it did at least prove that timelines were real. If only there was a way back to that original timeline. A timeline where Sans was still alive.

The other programs on the computer didn't do anything when Papyrus tried to open them. It was broken, so that was to be expected, but a tiny part of him hoped it would still work. Papyrus was a firm believer in believing! If he hoped enough, anything could come true. Hoping got him into the Royal Guard. Hoping wasnt enough for this situation. He couldn't hope his brother back. Not with a broken machine.

There was one last thing displayed on the screen. It was a file hidden among the stars so well he didn't notice it at first. It looked like a document, but it had no text written under it. Papyrus clicked on it, finding it was a note of some sort. It was addressed to him.

pap

hey it's me, sans. this must be very confusing for you. sorry im not around to explain any of this to you. i probably should've at some point, but it all felt so pointless. the way timelines keep changing and stopping at random times, everything feels very pointless. anything i say or do can be erased on a whim and i have no control over that at all. it's exhausting.

which i guess is a good time to explain this machine. its a timeline machine, it was used to hop from timeline to timeline. you know, alternate universes. at least it was before it broke, now it's only good for reading them. it remembers what no one else can, somehow, by recording the timeline numbers despite resets. which is how i know even this wasn't our original timeline. we came from a doomed timeline to this timeline when we were younger. not that i can remember much from that time, and I doubt you can either, but that's a story for another day. i dunno if there is a way back to our original timeline. dunno if i wanna go back. we are happy here now.

well at least we were happy. i have to assume if you are reading this then im dead. sorry about that bro. i never wanted to leave you alone. i can only assume it to be the fault of the anomaly. there is something out there manipulating the timelines. check the numbers, you'll see. timelines jumping all over the place. that's far from normal. we are supposed to stick to one timeline for forever. reading over the timelines makes my nonexistent skin crawl. i have faint memories of these other timelines, and they are never good. makes me glad i can't remember more, i don't think my sanity could handle it. what im getting at here is that the anomaly must've killed me. and if that is the case there is only one way to bring me back. 

you gotta kill the anomaly. i know you wouldn't hurt a soul, but you gotta. it'll make the anomaly reset back to before i died, probably. then i'll be back and you won't even remember this nightmare. i'm not sure what the anomaly is, since it probably resets if i ever find out, but if you can find out, please bring me back. just be careful. the anomaly might be really strong. you are stronger tho bro. i know you can do it.

sorry for dying and asking so much of you. if you can remember after the reset, confront me about all this. im not brave enough to tell you on my own. im a coward. i don't want to hurt you or scare you with all this stuff, but you deserve to know. you are smart, i mean you figured out the password for this machine and all. so you are more than smart enough to handle all this timeline nonsense. hey, let's make a password. if you remember, tell me, "i despise spaghetti more than i hate an incomplete puzzle!"

anyway, i love you paps. please help me. im counting on you.

-sans

Papyrus looked at the screen with squinted eyes. That was a horrible password! Incomplete puzzles were the worst thing, spaghetti was the best! The only food better was dinosaur oatmeal. Papyrus would never say anything like that, but that was the point of a secret password, he supposed. 

That wasn't really what he should be focusing on. Something was out there controlling the timelines. A something that killed Sans? But Flowey killed Sans. 

A horrible chill went down Papyrus' back. Flowey was constantly telling him things that would happen in the future, which always came true. Like he knew exactly what would happen. Papyrus hadn't thought too deeply on it, but how did Flowey know so much? He always seemed to know what was going on. 

Flowey was the anomaly. That's why Sans told him to kill Flowey. His best friend… had been doing awful things. Flowey had to die?

Papyrus felt his knees go weak, sinking to the floor as despair came over him. A numb buzzing rattled around his skull. Flowey was his friend. Friends don't hurt their friends. But if Papyrus was correct, Flowey had done so many bad things. Perhaps in other timelines he had hurt other monsters, maybe even Papyrus himself.

He sat there for a long moment, holding his head in his hands, trying to figure out a solution. There was only one thing he could think of. It seemed obvious, actually. If timelines could be reset, Sans could come back, and Papyrus would make sure of that. Standing up on shaky feet, Papyrus headed out of the workshop, locking it behind him.

* * *

Alphys nervously bit at the claws on one hand as she tapped out Undyne's number with the other. Four phone calls and no answer so far. Which was very strange. Undyne always picked up her phone! Not to mention that she had been at the funeral. Where did she even head off too? Alphys was afraid to get much closer to the group since she saw the families of the Amalgamates still hovering around the funeral.

They never got to scatter the dust of their loved ones, since Alphys turned them into horrible abominations that could hardly speak! She had stolen their chances to find peace. She was the worst, the absolute worst! 

The phone went to voice-mail. Alphys sighed deeply. She should just go over there and ask where Undyne went. Alphys would have to come clean about the Amalgamates when she told Undyne about the blackmail anyway. So she had to do this! This most terrifying thing. Oh no she would rather die than do this.

With all her bravery and strength, Alphys inched closer to the crowd. Wait, was that the Queen? She looked like Asgore, so she must be. Why was she at the funeral? Monster kid was jumping excitedly around her for some reason. Well, talking to them would be a good first step in figuring out where Undyne went. 

"H-hello! Your majesty!" Alphys bowed as she approached.

"Please, call me Toriel. Can I help you with something?" Toriel replied back, patting Monster kid on the head so he would calm down.

"Oh, yes. You see, um, I'm looking for my friend, Undyne? She's Captain of the Royal Guard. Have you seen her?" Not likely that she would know. The queen had been gone for so long. Strange that she'd come out for a funeral.

"I saw her!" Monster kid jumped up, bumping into the queen's hand. "She went into the forest with that scary flower."

Alphys blanched. "A f-f-fff…"

"Yeah. I saw it before in Waterfall, I thought it was a weird echo flower, but like the wrong color! It said weird junk to me though, I don't like it." Monster kid shuddered.

"You mean Flowey? I saw such a monster in the ruins." Toriel bent down so she was at eye level with Alphys, who was desperately trying to not to have a panic attack. "Is something wrong dear? You look unwell."

"It's fine!" Alphys squeaked out. Her brain was spinning at about a hundred miles per hour. Flowey and Undyne had gone somewhere. Flowey was dangerous! Undyne was in serious danger! "No, it's not fine! Where is Asgore? We got to find Undyne immediately!"

Toriel stood up straight, calling out over the crowd. "Asgore, something has happened, please come quickly."

It looked like Asgore had been discussing something with the Royal Guard, but he came rushing over at her words. "What is it? Oh, Dr Alphys."

"It's terrible! Undyne is missing! I think she is in serious danger, we have to find her!" Alphys was shaking so badly she thought she might fall over. "There is this flower monster out there, and Papyrus and I think he's been hurting monsters." She didn't want to say too much since a child was listening.

"A flower monster? I've never seen…" Asgore paused, but then shook his head and continued. "Have you been in contact with Undyne? Is she answering her phone?"

"No! I tried multiple times, and Monster kid saw her leave with Flowey, they went into the forest." Alphys rubbed her hands together. They were wasting time! Undyne was really tough, but who knew what a flower injected with determination could do? She could be dead!

Asgore waved over the rest of the Royal Guard. "It seems that Captain Undyne has gone missing. Guard 01 and 02, you are in charge in the absence of Undyne. Please, search the Snowdin Forest and the surrounding areas. Everyone pair off in groups of two for safety, and each group bring a part of the canine unit to help sniff her out. Alphys, go back to the lab and check your cameras. And if you know where Papyrus is, can you send him my way? He didn't get lost too, did he?"

"I think I know where he is. I'll get him." Alphys scurried away, trying to not let her very real fear overpower her. Undyne had to be okay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm being slower putting out these chapters, but it's because I'm hard at work on the ending animation. I try to work on it a bit everyday, same with the actual story. Thank you for your patience!


	13. Chapter 13

When Alphys found the door to the workshop locked, she freaked out a tiny bit. Where was Papyrus? Did Flowey do something to him? That couldn't be possible! Alphys left him alone only minutes ago!

Maybe he had gone somewhere else instead. Alphys hurried to the front of the house, frantically knocking on the door. "Papyrus!"

A pounding of footsteps came from behind the door, which shortly pulled open to reveal Papyrus. He had changed clothes at some point, wearing a plain white t-shirt and shorts instead of the more formal outfit he had on at the funeral. The shirt didn't even have a funny phrase scrawled on it like all the rest of his shirts. Not that she really had the time for assessing Papyrus' fashion. 

"Undyne's missing!" Alphys cried out. "I tried to call her, but she never picked up. I asked around and Monster kid said he saw her go into the forest with Flowey. Please, you gotta go see Asgore. I'm going to check my cameras at my lab for any sign of her."

It seemed to take Papyrus a moment to process this information, but his sullen expression turned into one more of shock. "Yes, go look for Undyne, I'll go see the King."

Every second was vital, so Alphys merely nodded before running towards the closest river so she could quickly travel back to her lab.

* * *

"Little one, please hurry back to your home." Toriel bent down next to Monster kid, who hadn't left her side since Undyne vanished into the forest. 

"I can't leave! I'm worried about Undyne!" Monster kid fretted, anxiously wagging his tail.

"You told me she is the strongest monster in the Underground, correct? You have nothing to worry about, but you should go home before your parents worry for you." Toriel felt relief when Monster kid finally ran off. Asgore had already sent almost everyone in attendance at the funeral home, since it might not be safe.

Toriel had met that flower before. It hadn't done anything to harm her, in fact it had called her mom and informed her of Sans' passing. Could this flower really be the same one? 

Papyrus came running across Snowdin, which felt much quieter now that mostly everyone was gone. Or perhaps there was an awkward silence since Toriel refused to speak with Asgore.

"King Asgore!" Papyrus skidded to a stop in front of them, his face alight with fear. "Undyne went missing? Should I look for her?"

"The rest of the Guard is already searching. I do have some questions for you pertaining to the flower monster, Flowey, was it? Can you tell me why you suspect him of hurting monsters?"

"Yes." Papyrus frowned deeply. "I believe that he staged my brother's suicide. Apparently right after Sans died, Flowey visited Alphys and blackmailed her for information about Sans. And I also noticed that he has LV."

"You can see LV?" Asgore asked with his eyes wide.

"Yes. I can see the LV and EXP a monster has, and Flowey has LV. I asked him about it and he said he helped you kill a human."

"No one has ever helped me kill a human." Asgore gripped his hands together. "I would not place that burden on anyone else."

"I thought so. Even if Flowey didn't kill my brother, he has hurt monsters and should be considered dangerous. Alphys was trying to warn Undyne about Flowey, that's why she was trying to contact her." Papyrus explained, but even still his panic did not subside. Toriel could see it in his eyes, even as he stood bravely before Asgore.

Toriel felt sick. One could not judge a book by its cover, and yet Toriel had trusted the flower monster implicitly. It was hard for her to believe that a monster who called her Mom was bad. The way he had said it too, it reminded her so much of her long lost son. It had touched something within her heart. Yet it had merely been a lie or a ploy from a very dangerous monster. 

"King Asgore!" Lesser Dog bounded out from the forest, followed by a few members of the Guard. "Undyne! She's… gone."

Toriel felt a pain in her soul as sharp as a knife. Even though she didn't know Undyne, she was clearly a well respected monster and Papyrus' friend. The one who had killed her had to be that monster that called her mother. She felt a mild sense of betrayal.

"What happened?" Asgore put a hand to his face, pulling on his beard like he always did when he was nervous.

"I followed her scent, it led to a bridge over a cliff. The scent ended there, abruptly. I looked over the edge and saw her dust and clothes." Lesser Dog explained. "The flower must've pushed her from the bridge."

Toriel glanced over at Papyrus. His expression had gone blank, his eyes black and devoid of life. She placed a comforting hand on his arm, which caused him to jump slightly. He shook himself slightly before he finally spoke. "We have to find Flowey."

"Yes." Asgore nodded in agreement. "Please, have everyone group up here so we can discuss a plan. Take utmost care, the Flower monster is a very serious threat."

As the guard ran off, Toriel focused back on Papyrus, who was facing towards the ground, his arms trembling so violently she was worried his bones would come loose. "Papyrus, dear."

Her attempt to calm him had the complete opposite effect. Papyrus screamed with either pain or rage, maybe both. It was a heart wrenching sound, vibrating around the forest and rivberating back to her ears.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! I have to find Flowey! I have to stop him!" Papyrus shouted out.

"Hold on." Asgore bent down and held both of Papyrus' arms so he wouldn't run away. "I don't think that's a good idea. You might get injured."

"He killed my brother and now he killed my best friend! I have to do something!" The desperation in his voice was clear as Papyrus struggled against his hold, his bones loudly clanking. "Please let me go!"

"Wait a moment." Toriel interrupted. She agreed with Asgore, if Papyrus rushed out now in the throes of grief it would only end in more tragedy. "I think that you should go guard Alphys. She may be targeted next, if this Flower has already blackmailed her he might go back and finish the job."

"That sounds like a very good plan. Papyrus, please go and protect Alphys." Asgore stood back up as Papyrus settled down from his earlier frantic flailing. 

Tears of frustration rolled down Papyrus' face. "But! Your Highness!"

"This is an order from your King." Asgore stood firmly.

"I will go with you." Toriel decided. Alphys had seemed close with Undyne as well. This would be difficult on her and Papyrus was not equipped to deal with it. They both needed someone to support them.

Besides, grief was a terrible thing. It could take the kindest person and twist them into something horrible. It had done that to her husband after their children died. He became angry and wanted revenge, declaring war on all humans. Toriel felt a pang of guilt for not staying with him. Asgore had been mourning and she abandoned him. Although, she had been grieving as well at the time. That did not excuse her from running away and locking herself in the ruins for years upon years. She had been just as horrible as her husband in the end, sending children out to their deaths and doing nothing to protect them herself. 

Her own guilt aside, Toriel didn't want Papyrus to lose himself to his despair. If he found Flowey, who knows what he might do and then regret later. She didn’t want to see Papyrus hurt like she had been. Like Asgore had been. Regrets that had piled up so high that they were inescapable at this point.

"You don't understand!" Papyrus cried out. "I'm the only one who understands! I have to stop him before he hurts anyone else." His face was such a mess of pain Toriel couldn't bear to look at it.

Instead she wrapped her arms around him, letting him cry and scream all he needed. Papyrus held onto her fur, choking out cries as his eyes wet her fur. After a few minutes he tired himself out and Toriel took his hand. "We are leaving now."

Asgore nodded. "Yes. Regardless of what happens, I am still giving my speech tomorrow. I think it is more important now than ever. Please be there."

He really was a stubborn man. Once he decided something he refused to back down. Nothing she could say would change him now and it was more important to get Papyrus somewhere safe. That flower might be after him too. "I will try to make it." Toriel muttered in reply.

As they were leaving, Papyrus paused at the table that still held his brother's jacket. He picked it up gingerly. "I'm taking Sans with us."

Toriel gave him a sad smile. "Of course. Let us go now."

* * *

Alphys was sitting on the floor, her tail curled up tightly around herself, holding her head in her hands. Her phone was ringing but she couldn't pick it up. She didn't want confirmation on what she already knew was true. 

She had seen Flowey and Undyne walking towards a bridge with her security cameras. Then, on the next camera they would pass by, nothing. Flowey could burrow under the ground. Undyne… well there were no convenient excuses for her disappearance. She was in all likelihood dead. 

Not Undyne! She couldn't be! She was so strong and brave and confident and everything Alphys wished she could be. Amazing and beautiful and now nothing more than dust, like she had never been there at all. No, no, no!

A loud knocking came at her door. Alphys lowered herself closer to the floor, trying to make herself as small as possible. She didn't want to be seen. She didn't want to see anyone. She wanted to be alone. Go away, go away!

A much louder crashing noise made Alphys cover her ear holes with her hands. Someone was here. Maybe it was Flowey and he was here to kill her too, which was good because she was too much of a coward to do it herself. She couldn't keep living if Undyne was gone.

“I am so sorry, my dear.” Warm and fluffy arms pulled Alphys up and into a hug. It took her a few moments to realize it was Toriel. Her hug felt so comforting, but her words made her realize that Undyne really was gone, and her tears started, pitiful wails gasping out from her lungs. 

She wanted to go back in time. If only she had been faster, if only she told Undyne about everything sooner. Alphys held back to protect her own scales and now Undyne was gone. It was her fault! She practically killed Undyne herself!

"I don't deserve to live!" Alphys cried out. "Undyne!"

Someone settled down behind her, rubbing her back with a bony hand. Oh, it was Papyrus. His voice sounded tired as he spoke, "Don't say that. Please stay with us, Alphys. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"But I… can't live anymore." Alphys felt even more guilt for suggesting that. She was selfish, taking all the attention when Undyne had been murdered! She didn't even deserve comfort after all the things she had done! Hell, she even created the stupid flower in the first place! This whole situation was entirely her fault. "Let me die."

"Shh, shh," Toriel gently stroked the scales on the back of her head. "It is okay to be hurt, but please do not talk about ending your own life. Undyne would not want that, correct?"

Alphys nearly choked on her cries. No, Undyne wouldn't want that. She could practically hear Undyne shouting at her, "You gotta keep living, nerd!"

After a long cry, Alphys settled down. It was painful thinking she would never see Undyne again. Never get to tell her that she liked her. Never watch anime together again. Just a few days ago they had fallen asleep together on Alphys' bed. Nothing like that would happen again. Undyne was only memories. Memories and dust.

Toriel stood up first, “Why do I not make you two something to eat? After such a long day, you both must be starving.”

Alphys didn’t feel much like eating, but she didn’t really want to refuse either. “Sure, but uh, I don’t really have a lot to eat here. There is some stuff in the fridge over there.”

“Do not worry, I have fire magic, I can make do.” Toriel walked over towards the other side of the lab.

Alphys sighed as she looked around her lab. The front door was broken in, that would be a pain to fix. It was hard to worry about that at the moment, it was hard to think about any future at all. Everything felt like it was already over.

Papyrus was sitting next to her still, holding Sans’ jacket and tracing his finger across the frayed edges of a hole. He spoke very quietly, which was unusual, Papyrus hardly ever toned down from a dull roar. “We made mac and cheese.”

"Hmm?"

“Me and Undyne. We made mac and cheese. Together. It was a lot of fun.” Papyrus held up the jacket, looking at the hole more closely. “I wonder what Flowey could’ve said to my brother to make him do this? Dying that way, it must’ve been painful.”

Papyrus didn’t seem to be handling this well. Not like Alphys was doing any better. They were both a mess. It hurt her to see Papyrus like this, frowning with lifeless eyes and rambling from one thought to another as if he didn’t even know what he was saying. She didn’t know what to say to him at a time like this either.

“I couldn’t have made it through this without Undyne. I honestly would’ve fallen down if I was left on my own.” Papyrus abruptly stood up, making Alphys flinch back. He tied Sans’ jacket around his shoulders. “I have to find Flowey and end this nightmare.”

“Woah, woah, Papyrus. W-what are you saying?” Alphys jumped to her feet.

“This is just a dream, and I’m going to wake us all up. We won’t even remember this happened at all. I have to find Flowey.” Papyrus took a long stride towards the door before Alphys stepped in his way.

"No! D-do you have a death wish or something? Flowey killed your brother and Undyne! Even if you did something to him, it’s not like it would bring them back!"

Toriel noticed the commotion and headed over. “Papyrus, remember what Asgore told you? You must protect Alphys, you can not go out and find that flower.”

“I DON’T CARE.” Papyrus howled. “None of this matters! I’m going to reset everything and you both won’t remember this anyway, so don’t try to stop me!”

Alphys took a tentative step towards Papyrus. He wasn’t making any sense, he might have experienced a mental break. “I think you are having a panic attack or dissociating, Papyrus. Just sit down for a minute so we can talk this over.”

“There is no point. I’m leaving.” A flash of blue magic came over the lab, and before Alphys could realize what was happening, Papyrus was already in the air, almost like he was flying, jumping clear to the other side of the lab. As he ran out the broken door without looking back, he used his magic to make a wall of bones where the door had once been.

Alphys chased after him, but as soon as she reached the wall of bones, she realized how sturdy and impenetrable it was. She reached an arm out through the bones, although it was far too late to catch him. With a cry of despair, she screamed, “PAPYRUS!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the next chapter is one of my favorite ones, for various reasons. 
> 
> I didn't get much work done on animating since I really wanted to write this part (and the next). I had some of this chapter done before I even published the previous chapter, but I threw that all out and rewrote it. I heavily edited it after that since I wasn't pleased with how it came out. I think it's much better, even if Papyrus sounds a little OC. He did just lose his main support. 😔 
> 
> Also I assume blue magic is what allows Papyrus to do his little floaty jumps and such? I'm trying to stick to mostly canon here although I doubt that matters too much to anyone. I already made Sans a Royal Scientist and that certainly isn't canon. It's my canon now, baby.
> 
> Some people were wondering before if Papyrus would remember if he did get Flowey to reset. 
> 
> Hm. I wonder. 
> 
> But did you know that I already completely planned out the sequel to this fic? I actually did that within writing the first couple of chapters. First I gotta finish this fic so enough rambling from the author.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! I'm sure that most of us who celebrate it are having an awful time, so have this chapter to help cheer you up?
> 
> Or not?
> 
> I call this chapter CAPS LOCK screaming match in my head. Anyway enjoy?

It was red. Red and hot and boiling inside Flowey. Burning him. It wasn't physical, but he felt it all the same. This, _thing_ , had started when he heard that Chara's soul was still around in the Underground somewhere.

Chara still existed. Even if they were only a soul, this meant they weren't gone forever. But their soul was missing and arguably the only one with any information about where it might be was Sans. Who was dead.

Doing a true reset felt like such a pain. It was exhausting to think about reliving so many days all over again. Making the same friends, going the same places, doing the same things. Everything had become so routine and boring. Flowey wanted to keep moving forward in time. Besides, there was no guarantee Sans even knew where the soul was anyway. 

And Flowey was determined to find Chara.

But he had to kill Undyne first. She was in the way. Flowey couldn't go looking for lost souls with a murderous vengeful fish lobbing spears at him. It was better to get her out of the way. No one else posed a threat to him at all and even if he died he saved recently enough for it not to matter. 

Flowey was currently in the outskirts of Waterfall, closer to the Hotlands than Snowdin. The guards were looking for him in Snowdin, so he was safe here. Safe from their harassment, it's not like any of them could hurt him anyway.

Still, this red feeling wasn't going away. It was frustrating and annoying and Flowey just wanted Chara back right now! He had no idea where to begin looking since in all his resets he had never seen the soul once. It must be hidden somewhere deep.

Ugh! Flowey picked up a nearby rock with his vines and started pounding it on the ground. He had so much pent up energy, that stupid red feeling. He had to get it out somehow and the only way he could think of was by smashing something. He bashed the rock into the ground so hard it started to break, sending sharp shards of rock flying. One flew into one of his petals, tearing it, but it didn't matter, it made him feel… less whatever it was. He wanted to destroy everything!

It still didn’t feel like enough. Nothing could get rid of this annoyance burning inside of him. Frustrated beyond belief, Flowey smashed his face into the ground and started to scream. Scream as loud as he could, he didn’t care if anyone heard him, nothing mattered, nothing ever mattered, nothing would ever matter!

That is, until he felt a warm glow of magic on his damaged petal. Flowey shot up, ready to kill whoever decided to interrupt his screaming fit. It was that stupid skeleton. “What are you doing?”

“You were injured and screaming.” Papyrus looked down at him with worry. Why was he even worried at all? 

“GET AWAY FROM ME.” Flowey demanded. He turned his head and noticed that his petal was now back in perfect condition again.

Papyrus hopped up, backing up several steps. “Flowey, I know what you did. I’m here to make you reset.”

Flowey squinted his eyes at Papyrus. How did he know about that? Sans was the only one who knew in previous timelines. Papyrus had never shown any indication of knowing anything. Yet in the few hours he had left him alone, he figured it out? How annoying. It didn’t really matter. That skeleton had wasted a perfectly good sneak attack! “Why didn’t you just kill me then? Not like it would’ve made me reset, but you healed me instead of attacking? Are you stupid? Trying to have a fair fight or some other bullshit? Well I’m not going to play nicely.”

Flowey shot out two vines from beneath the ground, wrapping them around both of Papyrus’ arms and dragging him to the ground. He could feel the bones creaking under his grasp. Papyrus managed to lift one of his hands just enough to summon some kind of magic. Whatever it was, it did nothing to Flowey at all.

Papyrus looked aghast though. “You don’t have a soul.”

Flowey started to laugh. “Idiot! Were you trying to use soul magic on me? God, how dense can you be? Of course I don’t have a soul! I’m a demon!”

Papyrus shook his head. “I don’t think you are a demon. You were crying. You feel bad for murdering Undyne, right? You can bring her back.”

“SHUT UP.” Before Papyrus could spout more nonsense, Flowey increased the pressure on his arms, making Papyrus cry out in pain. “You don’t know anything about me, don’t pretend like you do.”

“I just want you to reset. I know you can be better than this. Please, I believe you can do the right thing, Flowey.” Papyrus was sweating slightly, the pain clearly getting to him.

“Ugh, whatever.” Flowey released him from his vines. “Go ahead and kill me, I so totally promise I’ll reset then. And hey! Then we can be exactly the same! Murder buddies! So do it! Kill me!” 

Papyrus got to his feet, rubbing at his arms where the vines had been. “I’m not like you.”

Flowey laughed uproariously. “God, you think you are better than me? Let’s just get this over with, I’ve always wanted to see how you attack with deadly intent. You’ve never even tried to kill me in any of my resets, unlike everyone else in this hellhole. So KILL ME.”

Breathing heavily, Papyrus summoned a bone to his side, grabbing it with his hand. What sort of move was this? Flowey had never seen it before, how exciting! A battle was sure to help him get rid of all his pent up energy too. He readied himself for the blow.

But it didn’t come. Papyrus stood there, panting and looking confused. Flowey lifted a leaf and waved at him. “HEY! I’m over here! Attack me!”

“I can’t.” Papyrus admitted. “I don’t want to be like you. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Oh like it matters. It’ll be reset anyway.” Flowey sighed. “Just do it! Fight me!”

“You’ll remember though. If I hurt you, you’ll remember.” Papyrus dropped his hand down, but still held onto the bone. “It does matter if you can remember.”

What the hell! Flowey had been so close to getting Papyrus to attack him! Why was he so stupid? Now Flowey wanted a fight, and he would get one. He just had to motivate Papyrus. “You know, your stupid brother could remember some things too. I wonder if that’s why it was so easy to get him to kill himself? I hardly had to do anything at all, he just gave up. I bet he was already suicidal and looking for an easy way out. I mean, with you as a brother, who would want to live?”

“DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT SANS.” Papyrus lashed out, sending a row of bones towards Flowey. 

He was so easy to manipulate! Flowey got ready to dodge, but the attack stopped halfway across the ground and fizzled out. “Am I a bad brother?” Papyrus looked down, his face going dark. “Did Sans want to die because of me? Did he hate me?”

“ARGH! You are SO STUPID.” Flowey rocked back and forth in place. “He ONLY talked about you to pretty much everyone. He didn’t hate you! He cared about you a lot. I JUST WANT YOU TO FIGHT ME SO STOP GETTING SAD AND ATTACK ME.”

Papyrus did not attack. He didn’t even look like he was preparing an attack. Instead he asked in a quiet voice, “Why did you kill Sans?”

“Why? Because I was bored! I’ve done everything else I can think of, I wanted to see what would happen if Sans died.” Flowey grinned. “I can do whatever I want! Consequence free!”

“It’s not consequence free. You feel guilty, that’s why you were screaming and crying. You feel bad about everything. I know you do. Bring everyone back, Flowey.”

Flowey rolled his eyes. “Like I can feel anything without a soul. I’m just frustrated, okay? Stop stalling and fight me.”

Papyrus nodded and held up his summoned bone like a sword, he placed a foot back, readying for an attack, when he suddenly dropped down to one knee.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Flowey screamed.

“I can’t do this Flowey, I can’t fight you. But I’ll make you reset. I have an offer for you.” Papyrus disappeared the bone in his hands. 

“What is it?” Flowey asked, a little curious, but still wishing Papyrus would attack him already.

“If you reset and bring Sans and Undyne back, then you can kill me instead. I offer myself as sacrifice for their lives. I don’t care what happens to me, as long as everyone is saved.” Papyrus bowed his head down low, but he looked sincere in his offer. He looked so damn sincere.

Those words echoed in Flowey’s head. “As long as everyone is saved.” He hated those words.

The world seemed to distort before his eyes. Suddenly, it wasn’t Papyrus kneeling in front of him anymore. It was Chara. Waterfall had become his old bedroom. Chara was talking quietly, telling Asriel about their plan to free all the monsters.

_“We can free everyone Azzy. We can free all the monsters. You just have to take my soul.” Chara said, a smile on their face but their red eyes so empty and devoid of anything._

_“I can’t do that Chara!” Asriel felt like something was lodged in his throat. Something hot, burning him with a pain he couldn’t describe. “You’ll die!”_

_“I don’t care what happens to me, as long as everyone is saved.” Chara replied, their expression not changing in the slightest. An empty, kind smile that betrayed how they really felt._

_Asriel hated that smile. It was a lie! A LIE! He shouted out the words he couldn’t say back then, the words that had been trapped deep inside his chest since his own death. “What, do you have some kind of martyr complex? You think you can save everyone by dying? Are you completely stupid? Your life has meaning, you are important too! You can’t save everyone if YOU are dead! Everyone includes you! I don’t want to lose you, Chara!”_

“Chara?”

The illusion was broken and Flowey saw Papyrus kneeling in front of him again, confusion clear on his face.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! I’m so tired of you Papyrus!” Flowey growled, his face morphing into one of utter disgust. “You think you are so good and pure and kind! Well guess what! Kindness isn’t the great thing you think it is. You are kind to a fault. You think you can save everyone by dying? Are you that stupid? When you are kind, the only thing you end up doing is hurting yourself!”

Papyrus stood up, looking more determined than Flowey had ever seen him before. “Kindness is not a fault. I am ready and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure everyone is happy. I believe in every single monster, even you Flowey. I know this is hurting you, so please, just reset.”

“AHHH! I HATE YOU PAPYRUS! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!” Flowey screamed at the top of his lungs. “IN THIS WORLD, IT’S KILL OR BE KILLED. IF YOU REFUSE TO KILL ME, THEN YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!”

Papyrus dejectedly nodded.

Flowey wasn’t going to kill him, and not because of any stupid promises he made to that lazy sack of bones. Papyrus had to suffer, he had to feel pain, he had to HURT. “I’m not going to reset. I’m never resetting again. Your brother and that stupid fish are going to stay dead forever. And it’s all your fault because you refuse to attack me. This is the consequence for your actions. If you want them back, then come kill me, otherwise, just suffer in your lousy kindness you care so much about.”

Before Papyrus could respond, Flowey ducked under the ground and out of sight. He could hear Papyrus fall to the ground and start to cry. Whatever. It didn’t matter. He should cry! It was his fault! Why should Papyrus get the people he cared about back when Flowey couldn’t? WHY?

The red feeling had faded away. Now it was decidedly blue. Flowey hated this feeling even more.

* * *

After crying for so long his eyes hurt, Papyrus sat at the ground, feeling the bones in his arm. There were several hairline fractures that he could feel, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to heal them.

He understood completely why Undyne hadn’t wanted him in the Royal Guard. When push came to shove, he couldn’t hurt anyone. It wasn’t in his nature. It didn’t help that Flowey told him that he was the only one that had never killed him. He didn’t want to be the same as everyone else. He wanted to show Flowey that kindness and compassion could solve anything.

Despite his best efforts to show Flowey mercy, Papyrus was backed into a corner. Flowey wouldn’t reset unless Papyrus attacked him head on. He had to kill. Yet he was sure he would never be able to attack anyone with killing intent. What was he supposed to do now?

Everything Flowey had said bounced around in his head. Even the parts where it seemed that Flowey had been talking to someone else, someone named Chara. The name of the first human. Something had happened to Flowey, something horrible. If Papyrus could figure it out, maybe he had a chance of saving everyone, for real everyone. He had to try. It wasn’t like him to give up. Even when it seemed impossible, Papyrus never gave up! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno if this is considered an AU since it's different from canon. If it were to have a name I'd call it Unknown Tale or something. That's actually why the prefix for the current timeline is UK-P-****
> 
> UK stands for Unknown  
> P stands for Papyrus  
> The numbers don't really matter. 
> 
> Anyway I worry my AU is a bit close to something like disbelief Papyrus. It's really not but the premise is kinda similar? I mean this is different in that it's taking place before the games anyway. But things that happen here will of course affect things in the sequel, which is set in the timeline of the game. Kinda. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. The author must go now and frantically draw some more for the ending animation.


	15. Chapter 15

Alphys was absolutely terrified that she was never going to see Papyrus again. That all she was going to find was his dust and clothes. Alphys couldn't lose anyone else! It would break her even more than she was already broken, the strain of everything already made her feel as if her soul was about to crack.

Chasing after Papyrus wasn't easy. She went with Toriel out the back door of the lab, but they still had to go the long way around to get back towards the direction Papyrus had been heading. At that point they had no idea where he had gone besides vaguely Waterfall, and Waterfall was a big place. The constant sound of rushing water drowned out their yells for Papyrus too. Together they searched through the slightly humid air, looking into small caves and large patches of grass. In the darkest caverns where light seemed to be sucked away, Toriel held out her hand, lit by magical flames to guide the way.

Just as Alphys was beginning to think it was hopeless, that Papyrus had been killed and his dust lost to the waters, she saw him up ahead in a small cavern, kneeling on the ground and holding his arms. "Papyrus!"

The former queen rushed ahead of her, much faster than Alphys and her stubby legs. She knelt down next to Papyrus and put comforting hands on his shoulders. "Are you hurt?"

Papyrus shook his head at first, but then quietly said, "Well, I think I may be a little injured."

"Let me heal you." Toriel offered, holding her hands over the most visibly injured parts of his bones.

Alphys finally caught up and sighed with relief as she crouched in front of Papyrus. He was alive! "What happened with Flowey? D-did you fight him?"

"Not exactly. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him." Papyrus didn't look that upset about it though. Undyne had always said he was too soft, never wanting to seriously injure anyone. It reminded Alphys of one of the characters in Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, Nyan-chan, who always tried to solve her problems with words instead of fighting, because she believed in the power of love! She was such a deep and rich character, but they killed her off in the second season, one of the many reasons that season was the worst- Err, she was getting off track again.

Toriel smiled blithely. "I am most glad you did not do something you might regret. Violence only begets more violence. Revenge would only make you bitter and cold. I am sure the rest of the Royal Guard will find the flower and he will be brought to proper justice."

"I doubt that." Papyrus frowned but stood up. "I feel like I must apologize to you two for my actions. I was not acting as the Great Papyrus should! I lost my cool there, and I assure you that I am very cool."

"Of course you are." Toriel stood up, brushing off her knees. "Let us go back to the lab. You should eat something to get your health back up."

"Alright." Papyrus turned to Alphys as they started to walk back. "I apologize again for running off, although I had a reason. But first I need to tell you what I found out, I was able to use the timeline machine, at least, the timeline reader function."

Alphys gasped. "You got it to work? Sans showed it to me before, but it only ever displayed two timelines, and he wouldn't explain to me what they meant."

"Yes. There are many more timelines now. In fact, there is an anomaly controlling the timelines." 

Alphys listened carefully as Papyrus explained everything to her. Now it all made sense. He had run off like that because he thought it didn't matter what he did if the timeline was going to be reset anyway. This was all a bit much to take in, but Alphys felt hope in her heart. Undyne wasn't gone for good. On another timeline she was alive and well. The thought of seeing Undyne's toothy smile again nearly brought Alphys to tears. Getting Flowey to somehow reset the timeline without violence seemed unlikely.

After trekking through the waters they arrived back in the Hotlands. Up ahead Alphys could see her lab, the bones blocking the door had now dissipated, letting them enter normally. Toriel turned towards Papyrus before they entered, "I'm not sure I understand all the scientific things you spoke of, but how far back does Flowey's powers extend?"

"I think two months? It said that a true reset was last done two months ago. I'm not sure if Flowey can manipulate timelines beyond that. I'm not super science-y either!" Papyrus explained.

"I see." For a moment, Toriel looked rather downtrodden. She recovered quickly. "I will finish making some food now. Please, no more running off. Even if this timeline is not permanent, I do not want you injured."

"Yes! I have learned my lesson." Papyrus smiled, much more sincerely than he had in all the times Alphys had seen him over the past few days. "Right now matters, no matter what the future might hold, or if there is no future at all. We exist in this moment, so therefore this moment is all we really have. I won't forget that again."

"Well said." Toriel turned and headed towards what passed for a kitchen in the lab.

Alphys took Papyrus' words to heart. Right now mattered. Whether the whole world reset or they jumped to another timeline, they existed in the here and now, so it had to matter. 

* * *

Papyrus had been sitting on the floor of the lab, idly chatting with Alphys, mostly about Undyne, when Toriel announced that food was ready. She placed a baking dish on the table, moving the stacks of paper out of the way. "I did my best with what I had. I present to you: Ramen Noodle Casserole with Potato Chips Topping."

She uncovered the dish. It was noodly, covered in a crunchy chip. It didn't look greasy, although it had a lot of broth and a distinct salt scent. It was interesting? Papyrus was mostly interested in how the chips remained crunchy as they rested on a sea of broth. 

"Oh dear." Alphys groaned. "Maybe I should get us some real food…"

"It's okay!" Papyrus patted Alphys on the back. "I am excited to try Miss Toriel's cooking!"

"I am sure it will be… an experience." Toriel sighed as she put out paper bowls for them all to eat on.

Papyrus walked towards the table, his bones groaning with every step. He was still sore after his battle with Flowey. Flowey had hurt him so easily, in fact, he hardly seemed to notice he was hurting Papyrus at all. What would Flowey do if he seriously wanted to injure Papyrus? Images of cracked bones slowly disintegrating into dust filled his mind. The sharp smell of iron, pain overtaking all his senses until there was suddenly nothing but blackness.

Papyrus shook his head, clearing away the thoughts. It was time to eat. Concentrate on the present. He took a heaping spoonful and put it in his bowl. It looked as good as anything he and Undyne ever made! He tried a bite. The noodles were soft and salty while the chips were indeed still crunchy (and also salty). It was overwhelmingly salty! Like eating the sea! At least, what he assumed the sea was like from the books he read. "Delicious!"

"Thank you." Toriel's face went a little red. "I have not been able to cook for anyone in a long time."

"Right!" Alphys slurped down some of the noodles. "You disappeared for years. Everyone thought you were dead… er, gone for good. I can’t believe you came out for Sans' funeral."

"It was a tough decision. Sans was a close friend, perhaps my only friend when I secluded myself away in the ruins. He would tell me jokes and brighten my spirit." Toriel blinked several times, sniffling a bit. "Honestly, it may sound bad, but I am glad it was not a suicide. He brought me such light, I do not want to think of him suffering silently until it was too much for him to bear."

Papyrus hadn't thought much about that, but his confusion over the supposed suicide now made sense. It hadn't been one after all. Murder wasn't much better and Flowey's reason hardly made sense, but at least Sans hadn't been depressed to the point of ending it all. That, along with the fact that it was possible to go back were the main reasons he could smile now. "Me too."

They all ate quietly for a few minutes. Papyrus thought of his options with Flowey. He had to figure out something to get him to reset. If only he could figure out why Flowey was so angry and violent. Why he had such little faith in the world. If that could be restored, then Flowey would reset and bring everyone back! 

But why had he brought up Chara? The first fallen human had been mentioned in those strange notes in Sans' workshop as well. Their soul had been lost after some accident with the timeline machine. Hmm. Actually, Papyrus had the perfect person to ask about all this. Chara's adoptive mother was sitting across from him at the table!

"Miss Toriel. Can I ask you about Chara?" Papyrus hoped that it wouldn't bring up too many bad memories. 

"About Chara? What is it?" Toriel frowned ever so slightly, her fangs biting into her lip.

"Flowey brought them up when I was not fighting him. Well the context is a bit… um." Papyrus hadn't wanted to bring up his own hastily made plan of dying in place of Sans and Undyne, but it was unavoidable if he wanted answers. "You see, I may have offered my life in exchange for Sans and Undyne."

"P-Papyrus!" Alphys spit out. "You can’t do something like that!"

"I was not thinking clearly! I just wanted everyone to be happy again. I wanted to save everyone." Papyrus spun his fork in the paper bowl, picking up stray noodles. "Flowey became angry at me. He started to scream at me that I was stupid, that I can't save everyone if I am dead. Then he called me Chara."

Toriel placed down her fork, her brows scrunched together. "Flowey called me his mother…"

"Hmm?" Alphys looked concerned. "But I'm his mom, I mean, in a manner of speaking. I created him by injecting a flower with determination."

This was all highly strange! That explained why Flowey did not have a soul. He wasn't strictly a monster. Is that why he called himself a demon? "What is going on?"

Toriel looked less confused and more like she was going to be sick. She placed down her spoon next to her bowl. "What flower? It was not from the throne room was it? The flowers from the surface?"

"It was, actually." Alphys admitted.

"Oh dear." Toriel put a paw up to her mouth. "That is where Asriel's dust fell when he passed away. You do not think?"

Alphys gasped. "Flowey is Asriel?"

Papyrus' eyes grew wide. There was no way! Right? A flower brought to life was actually the former prince. That sounded crazy, like the plot of a story that had gone way off the rails. "Is that even possible? It sounds like something straight out of one of Sans' science fiction novels."

"Well, well I mean." Alphys gulped down some water from a cup. "It might be possible? There must be a reason for us spreading dust on a monster's favorite things so they can live on in it. Maybe our old tradition has some truth to it?"

"Sans?" Papyrus ran his fingers over his brother's coat, still draped over his shoulders like a cape. There wasn't a response, but maybe he was there? It was comforting to think so.

"My child is still alive." Toriel smiled, her lips curling up in joy, but then she went back to frowning. "My son killed two monsters."

"Ah!" Papyrus didn't want to make Toriel upset with all this. "He was upset about it. I found him screaming and crying. I think he regrets it. Maybe he's just really confused about being a flower now?"

"I do not know. This is all rather shocking." Toriel pushed her bowl away from herself. "I can not believe it."

"What about Chara?" Papyrus asked. "Didn't they die in the same place? Was their dust there too?" 

"Oh. Well humans are different from monsters. They do not turn into dust upon death. They turn into nothing more than skeletons." Toriel replied, her eyes shining a bit and her brows narrowed.

"I knew it!" Papyrus grinned. "Humans are descended from skeletons!"

Alphys chuckled to herself. "I'm not sure that's how it works, Papyrus. But, uh, honestly, I'm relieved to hear all this too. If Flowey is in some part Asriel, then he probably is a lost kid. We might be able to get him to reset in that case."

"We would not remember though." Toriel lamented. "If he resets our memories will be gone. I would not remember that he is my son."

"Maybe we can remember!" That strange vision of Papyrus' bones being snapped with loud cracks and the mind numbing pain returned to him. "Perhaps we can already remember past timelines. Like flashes of deja vu! I'm sure if we try really hard we won't forget all this."

"Perhaps that is true." Toriel rubbed her eyes with her large paws. "I can only hope. The timeline as it is cannot stand."

"I agree! I just don't know how to get Flowey, er Asriel, to reset. Do you know why he is so upset about Chara?" Papyrus picked up his bowl and drank down the completely saturated with salt broth. 

Toriel's eyes went wide. "I think I may know. Chara's death was no accident…"

Papyrus listened as the former queen went over the true death of the first child.

* * *

It was getting late and Alphys was growing worried. She had finished her… soup? and it was way past the time she typically fed the Amalgamates. As much as she wanted to help Papyrus find a solution to get the world to reset back, right now was still happening and if the Amalgamates got too hungry bad things happened. 

"I'll be right back." Alphys pushed back her chair from the table with a squeak. "I need to do something down in my lab."

"I will go with you." Toriel stood up as well, her form towering over Alphys. She was intimidating!

"Nnnn, no it's okay! I'll be back quick!" Alphys covered her face. Even if this world might disappear she couldn't bring herself to speak of her most shameful secret.

"It's dangerous to go alone. Fl- Asriel said he won't kill me, but the same isn't true for you or Toriel. Let me go and protect you." Papyrus was standing now too, also much taller than Alphys. Why was everyone so tall? She felt like she was standing between giants and about three seconds from a panic attack!

"No, no…" Alphys backed up a few steps. Her shoulders slumped as she realized how pointless it was to resist. "Alright. We can go quick."

"Please do not tarry." Toriel picked up the empty bowls from the table to clean up. "We should stick as a group until we find a way to deal with my child. I do not want any more injuries, understand?"

With a quick nod, Alphys headed over to the elevator to her secret lab, Papyrus only a few steps behind. Hopefully this wouldn't be too horrible. The elevator rumbled as it reached them, and with dread hanging over her like an angry storm cloud, Alphys stepped inside. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between chapters. My mom was sick and in the hospital (not the 'rona she was throwing up and dehydrated). Thankfully she is feeling better now. I hope I can get the next chapter out quickly! We are nearing the end. So like 5 more chapters. I can’t wait!
> 
> Follow my Twitter @stormoftara because sometimes I post little gifs of the animation I'm working on for the ending. I mostly post about Osomatsu-san tho.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for the wait, but here it is, finally lol.

Flowey found himself in the place that he most wanted to avoid at the moment. As much as he loathed being here, he had come to Alphys' lab to search for Chara's soul. So far, he wasn't having much luck. 

That was to be expected of course, since he had been here in other timelines and had seen nothing. It was worth a quick search again, just to make sure. Flowey was still in a foul mood from his encounter with Papyrus earlier, so he didn't want to stick around for long. A quick in and out. That was his plan, but something actually caught his eye.

In a back room was the generator used for most of the lab. It was shrouded in darkness, the long pipes connected to it looked like tree branches due to the dim light. There was something glowing on the front of it. Something red and pulsing. 

Could it be? Had Chara's soul been so close by all this time?

Those bastards were imprisoning Chara to run the lab!

Flowey couldn't contain his anger, slashing at the machine with his vines, breaking the front panel open. Glass flew back, nearly cutting his petals again. He barely dodged it, looking up to see something red leaking down the front.

With a loud thump, the power went out in the room, leaving it even darker than before. Flowey came back to his senses and realized that the machine ran on determination, not on Chara's soul itself. That was pretty obvious, but that strange feeling that had taken root inside him had blinded him from the truth. That strange feeling, itching him inside but he was unable to scratch. 

He needed to find Chara as soon as possible. Then this awful feeling would go away. Once he was reunited with his sibling, Flowey would be okay. He just had to find them!

Hearing some noises behind him that sounded like footsteps instead of the oozing of the Amalgamates, Flowey ducked under the nearest floor tile and left the lab. He had a lot of searching to do.

* * *

Papyrus had never been a fan of elevators. Perhaps it was being trapped in a small box with no escape that really got to him. Stairs were better and had the bonus of being exercise! He didn't have a phobia, nor did he shy away from elevators, but for some reason elevators gave him a slight anxiety. Or maybe just _this_ elevator.

Of course he had been through a lot the past few days, even the past few hours. His nerves were on edge and frayed beyond recognition. All he wanted was to find Flowey and get him to somehow reset things back. Bring his brother back. Bring Undyne back. 

Papyrus was exhausted. Once this task was over and he helped Alphys with the whatever this was, he was going to take a nap. Maybe Sans wasn't such a lazybones, napping all the time.

So he stepped into the elevator without much thought, only a dull anxious feeling in his chest. His eyes closed for a moment, at least he thought they closed, but when he tried to open them it was still pitch black.

"What's?" Alphys managed to stammer before the whole elevator shook and fell into a free fall.

Not having any time to think or even use what little magic Papyrus had left, the elevator slammed into the ground. Papyrus crashed onto the floor, landing hard on his arm. He hissed with pain as he pushed himself up. "Alphys? Are you okay?"

In the meager light he could see her, lying on the floor next to him. She groaned and looked up, adjusting her glasses. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

Papyrus stumbled up to his feet. His shoulders felt dislocated. That was easy enough to fix. He pushed it back into the joint, gritting his teeth from the flash of pain. "I'm okay. I think."

Alphys gave an almost imperceptible nod. She headed towards the door and with her claws between where it closed, pried it open. Outside it was dark except for a few panels with glowing green and what looked like a vending machine. 

"The power went out." Alphys stated the obvious. "Oh dear. We'll have to fix it." She ran a hand down her face in frustration.

"I should text Miss Toriel!" Papyrus pulled out his phone, but quickly saw that it had no service. 

"Yeah, it, um, won't work down here." Alphys shook her head. "Let's go and get this over with."

"What exactly did we come down here for, anyway?" Papyrus asked as he followed Alphys down a hallway. Panels lit up around him, but it looked like notes about experiments, so he didn't pay much attention.

"Well, you see, it's complicated…" Alphys twiddled her claws around each other. "We are feeding my pets! Yeah! They are just a little, um, unusual. So don't be, be, be scared!"

That didn't feel like the truth, but at the moment they had bigger things to worry about. Toriel must be worried sick! They should hurry up. 

As Alphys waddled ahead, Papyrus paused for just a moment. He untied the hoodie from around his neck and inspected it for any damage. 

"Are you okay Sans?" Papyrus whispered.

"Papyrus? Did you say something?" Alphys turned her head to look back at him.

"Nothing." Papyrus tied the hoodie back in place. 

They finally reached an open room. There were many beds with neat sheets. Almost like a hospital. It felt familiar. Alphys held up a rather big bag of dog food and started to pour it into bowls.

Something dashed out of the shadows. Oozing, a mass of something, hurtling towards Alphys. Shocked, Papyrus thought she was being attacked and raised a bone attack in front of her. The mass wasn't stopped in the slightest, moving through the bones like they weren't even there at all. 

"Endogeny!" Alphys spat out, the creature of white goo was seeping down around her. "Please be patient!" 

Almost like a dog, the creature backed off. Actually, looking at it as it sat on the floor, it was clearly in the shape of a dog, undulating, morphing, but still canine-like.

Other creatures made of similar trickling material appeared around the room. Some resembled monsters, but others were so strange that Papyrus was having a hard time looking at them. He turned his head away, wondering what Alphys had been doing down here that created those things. He almost wished he had let her come down here alone. Although with the power out, maybe it was good that he tagged along. 

Alphys stood up, breathing in deeply. "Alright. Let's go fix the generator."

Papyrus nodded and followed after her. He was glad to be away from the "pets" Alphys was keeping. Maybe, once the timeline was returned to normal, he would ask her. If he remembered. He made a mental note about labs and dogs, at least.

As they wandered down the hallway, they passed by a rather large machine. It was almost skeletal in nature, huge gaping eye-holes filled with inky blackness, a mouth that looked like it was about to snap shut. A feeling of deja vu washed over him. No real memories, but that unsettling feeling that he had been here before. 

Papyrus really wanted to leave already. After a few more rooms, they entered into a far darker room. A machine was visible in front of them, the front smashed in by something heavy.

"O-o-oh dear." Alphys knelt down next to the machine, picking up stray pieces of metal. "What could've done this?"

"One of your pets?" Papyrus wondered.

"No, well, maybe. I didn't feed them so maybe they got angry?" Alphys sighed deeply. "I dunno. I'm going to get my tools. Do you think you can sweep up?"

Together they got to work cleaning up and repairing the machine. Papyrus had discarded the last of the broken glass when he came in to see Alphys unscrewing the final screw and removing the front panel. Several ripped wires were hanging behind it, but it didn't seem too damaged beyond the cosmetic stuff.

"Where does this wire go?" Alphys mumbled to herself, holding up one of the torn wires.

"Here." From behind, Papyrus pointed out the wire it obviously attached to. Seemed obvious to him, at least. 

"Oh, you are right." Alphys stripped the wire down and reattached the ends, finishing with some electrical tape. "That should hold for now, at least. How'd you know which wire it was?"

Papyrus shrugged. He didn't really know. "Sans was always fiddling with sciencey things. It must've rubbed off on me!"

"Maybe." Alphys shrugged back. She pointed to another wire. "What about this one?" 

Together they worked for several hours, getting the machine back in working order. Papyrus was surprised at how much he was able to help, but he was very great, so was it that surprising? This felt like second nature to him and working so hard to fix something felt great! Just like when he was creating one of his amazing human traps!

Looking exhausted and slightly sweaty, Alphys wiped her brow. "I think that's everything. I'll just get some determination and the generator should be back up."

Papyrus nodded. He felt even more exhausted than he had before. At least fixing the machine had distracted him for a while, so he didn't have to think about everything else going on.

Alphys returned with a vial that was glowing red. Careful she injected it into the machine. A small chamber inside in the shape of a heart lit up. The warm glow filled the room, and with several clicking noises, the lights turned back on.

"Thank goodness," Alphys breathed out in almost disbelief. "It's working."

"Fine job, Alphys!" Papyrus clapped her on the back. 

"It was nothing. You did most of the work." Alphys was blushing at the slight compliment nonetheless.

Papyrus was more than ready to leave this awful place. Even with the lights on it wasn't any more welcoming. In fact, seeing the "pets" Alphys was keeping moving in the light was even worse.

They entered the elevator and rode back up. As the door dinged and opened, before Papyrus could even take a single step forward, he was engulfed in a hug. Soft white fur surrounded him. "Miss Toriel?"

"Papyrus! Alphys! I was so very worried. Are you safe?" Toriel hugged them both even tighter. Papyrus could hear his bones creaking. 

"Yeah." Alphys answered. "There was a power outage but we fixed it."

"That is a relief. I was so worried when I could not get in touch." Toriel finally let them go. 

Papyrus exited the elevator, rubbing at his eye sockets. He was so very tired. The day Sans died had felt like the longest day of his life, but this was a close second. Now he could get some rest. He couldn't even pay attention to what Toriel and Alphys were talking about, almost swaying on his feet. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.

"It's nearly time for Asgore's speech." Toriel's voice came through to him. 

"The speech?" Papyrus shook his head, bidding his memory to come through.

Oh, it was already the next day. The King was giving an important speech and had asked Papyrus and Toriel to be there. That was today. Papyrus had to go as a Royal Guardsman. It was his duty. 

But he was so tired. 

"Are you feeling alright, Papyrus?" Alphys put a hand on his bony arm. 

"Yes! Of course! I am feeling not only amazing, but the best I've ever felt. Shall we be off, Miss Toriel?" Papyrus put on a bright smile. Once the speech was over, then he could sleep. It would be fine.

"If you are sure." Toriel smiled softly at him. "Let us be off then. I will see you later, Alphys."

Alphys waved them off, a slightly worried look on her face. 

Papyrus pat the hoodie on his back, whispering to it, "Not much longer, Sans."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only about three more chapters left, so look forward to the next chapter coming... uhhh, umm, when it's done,


End file.
